God is joking, right? Move away
from our state and to an uncertain destiny just because of homeschooling?
We had to question what God had
told us about homeschooling our children back when our oldest was five. The
decision hadn’t been easy then, but God placed a knowing inside us that it was
the right thing to do.
There
will always be conflicting points of view and interpretations on how to best
handle situations, but your commitment to that one thing you know God spoke to your heart will see you through. When burnout hits, if our motivations are built
and
based on God’s unchanging nature, we cannot fail.
Backed into a corner, we had to reconsider.
Two things transpired to make us question whether we should stay in our home of
twelve years. We had adopted a son who was hearing impaired. The size of a
three year old, he labored through a church preschool program and private
speech therapy services, but these situations held at bay decisions about
public school until his adoption was finalized. The other consideration was our
oldest biological son. The state we lived in required second graders to pass an
exam, and this child lagged behind in reading—not that unusual for boys his age.
But, there was one shot at passing the test, and he didn’t.
The law was the law. If your
child had a special need in any area, then the parent was required to be
certified in that field to home educate. I had to be certified in both reading
specialty and hearing impairment to homeschool two of my children, and I wasn’t.
The local school district complicated matters by
telling us they would not hire someone certified in hearing impairment. We went
to battle. We knew our rights. Going to the highest levels to insist the
schools provide for our adopted son, we worked to change minds and hearts, but
it did no good. We spent so much time in war there was no time to spend with the
children, especially our hearing impaired son, who had desperate needs.
Father,
tell us what to do. We
put the house on the market, and it didn’t sell. Is this your answer, Lord? We
could leave our home and move fifteen miles across the state line and homeschool
each of our children in freedom. What a temptation! We prayed harder.
“For
our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on
what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.”
2
Corinthians 4: 17-18 (NKJ)
One day, my husband came home
with an answer. A good steward of God’s wealth and blessing maintains his
material belongings in a responsible manner. The conflict? The Bible also says,
that the planet is our temporary residence, and that we should make decisions
based on what is eternal rather than on what is temporary. What did we know for
certain? Our two biological children and two adopted children were God given.
To live an authentic example of relationship with God was our highest
responsibility to them. And the biggest lesson life had taught us? God is most
concerned with what will last.
Money? It comes and it goes.
Places to live and things to wear? He promises to provide. Our decision was
made based on enduring for what was eternal. We moved across state lines and
continued to homeschool our children. I am not saying this is the right
decision for everyone in our situation. I have never seen God do anything the
same way twice. But, I am saying, it was the right decision for us at that moment.
There was a price. Our house
never sold, and we endured hardships. Was the hardship fair? Adversity made us
want to doubt our decisions. Even now, I sometimes wonder if we could have done
something differently. But each time we were challenged, we counted it joy and
pursued knowing Him and the fellowship of His sufferings. God never once failed
us financially. He supplied materially and entrusted us with two more internationally
adopted children.
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, (I realize this can mean our bodies) is destroyed, we have a building from God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Corinthians 5:1(NKJ)
Throughout the years we have been
faced with this one question. Would we choose what is important now or what would
be important later?
Heartfelt commitments require
endurance through hardship, trial, testing, and attack. Outward circumstances
are never easy to decipher. There will always be conflicting points of view and
interpretations on how to best handle situations, but your commitment to that one
thing you know God spoke to your heart will see you through. When burnout hits,
if our motivations are built and based on God’s unchanging nature, we cannot
fail.
*The preceding story was created as I journeyed through burnout and explored a remedy for it. Rest is the letter R in Remedy. Exercise your faith is letter E. Meditate More is letter M. Today's post is letter E, Endure for the Eternal. Stay tuned for future blogs concerning letters D-Y.*
Listen for His Whispers...
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