For those who are asking where I’ve been, well, I’ve been having fun. I was thinking the other day while I was helping my kids relocate approximately 200 praying mantises we hatched that hey, I homeschooled all day, I could be blogging the many ideas I have to share with those considering homeschooling.  But, then I looked around at my children, fascinated by this army of miniature mantises (and let me tell you baby praying mantises are unbelievably cute) – and some of the best advice I could give anyone interested in homeschooling is contained in just a few words – have fun making memories with your children. 

So lately my free time (if a mother of six can ever honestly ever say she has “free time”) has been filled with making potholders (remember the kind that you made when you were a kid on a loom with cotton loops?  Well, I am becoming quite the expert these days...) or watching one of my children try out the electronics kit he just purchased with his chore money or seeing the kitchen floor get doused with flour from a recipe I am making with the child who has “kitchen buddy” duty that day.

Today one of the elders of our church, who is a pretty old guy who raised six kids of his own, told my husband and I that it seems that you but blink a few times, and the kids are grown. So, he said, the first and best ministry is to be with the children every minute you can.  Reminds me of one of my favorite country music songs, Don’t Blink by Kenny Chesney.  Here are some of the verses:

I turned on the evening news
Saw a old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what's the secret to life
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said "All I can say is."

Don't blink
Just like that you're six years old
and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five
and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink

I was glued to my tv when it looked like he looked at me and said
"Best start putting first things first."
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can't flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth

There is also something wonderful God is doing that I wanted to share with you.  A few weeks ago, a lady who is in leadership in a homeschool group was having problems with someone who was being contentious.  She wanted to solve it Biblically and felt led of the Lord to ask me to pray and fast with her not just for her situation, but for mine as well (my family is being harassed by a person who is refusing to enter Christian conciliation, and is instead dredging up contention).

So we started fasting once a week.  God works everything out for good for those who love Him as Romans 8:28 says, and we fasted and prayed for peace and for the people involved as Jesus commands.  This friend also told me that a well-known pastor’s mother had fasted once a week for him when he was little, so we also added praying for the salvation of our children.

Then more and more people started hearing we were fasting one day a week and they gave me prayer requests to pray through and some joined in, so that now about fifteen have committed to fasting.   It sure seems the Holy Spirit is calling people to a more significant prayer life with Him, which is so exciting. 

I have been absolutely amazed at how God is answering prayer, and in deeper ways than we could have ever imagined.  Just in the last two weeks or so, there have been five times I have written “prayer answered” on the list – and they were situations I did not expect to see resolved so soon.  And the friend who got us to fast --  God resolved her situation in a way that gave glory to Him.

Fasting makes you realize how weak and sinful you are and how you are totally dependent on God.  When you are well fed, a sort of pride seems to enter in, making you think you are strong.  When you fast long enough, you are humbled.  You also realize you need to listen for God’s voice, to have a Holy Spirit led walk, not one of the flesh. There are many reference both the Old and New Testament regarding fasting.  Jesus said, “this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  Before Esther risked going before the king she called a fast, and Jehoshaphat declared a fast, seeking the Lord, and God granted him relief from the overwhelming armies that were coming against him.

Maybe you are in a dark or uncertain time now.  Maybe you don’t feel up to being home all day with your children.  Maybe your marriage is waning.  Maybe you have been diagnosed with something.  Maybe you have someone who is being hurtful in your life, whom God wants you to pray for.  Maybe you need God’s guidance in a matter. Won’t you join us in prayer and fasting and see what God will do? (But if you are pregnant, nursing or have a medical condition, do NOT fast food, but do join us in prayer).

Or should I say the case separates the “girly men” from the men, since this is California we are talking about?

It is in times of crisis (or perceived crisis) in the homeschooling community that you see who was merely convinced to homeschool versus who was convicted by the Word of God to do so. 

In case you haven’t heard, a California state appeals court declared in a case involving a homeschooling family that parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool, the only exception being if the parents hold teaching credentials. 

Homeschoolers are up in arms, and the reverberations are obviously being felt in Sacramento as Arnold has gone so far to declare the ruling “outrageous” and that if the courts don’t overturn it, then he and the other “elected officials” would intervene.  Not entirely comforting I would say, as it is the past and recent actions of these same “elected officials” that have made the public schools in California unbearable cesspools of homosexual indoctrination. 

This case reminds me of an incident few years ago when then Superintendant of Public Instruction of California, Delaine Easton, declared private homeschooling illegal.  Fear coursed through the homeschool community in California.  Those of us in homeschool outreach felt frustrated as the situation was over exaggerated, and not only by the liberals, but by some conservative columnists and organizations as well.  In the trenches, it became harder to convince parents who were on the fence about homeschooling that the option was safe. 

But, as nothing happened, people forgot.  The Democrats pushed through more awful bills that affected education and the flight from public schools resumed its former intensity. 

Let’s hope that a swift end to this awful ruling happens soon.  But let’s say the ruling were to stand. If you are a homeschooling Christian in the Golden State, what would you do?

I’ve had some interesting discussions with homeschoolers on this topic, and their answers reveal how theology affects whether someone starts or continues homeschooling when the right to home educate comes under serious assault.  Would you break “the law” to homeschool?  Some tell me, “No – I would just move to a more homeschool friendly state”. But what if you are poor, like most of us homeschoolers, and could not just up and leave?   Would you reluctantly send your child to the legal, free, but soul-destroying public school or would you defy the authorities and raise your child in the Lord at home?

Many Christians get so frightened when liberals attempt the desire of their darkened hearts – to quash homeschooling or to at least intimidate people out of considering it.  Believers who have been given a warped view of Romans 13 think they must obey any foul “law’ that the despotic think up. 

But from the mother of Moses and her heroic following of God’s Law to the apostles stating, “We must obey God rather than men!'" Scripture is clear that you do not fear the false laws man may conjure up.  Would homeschooling even be legal in the United States had not brave pioneering homeschoolers “illegally” homeschooled in the face of arrests and even jail?

The Bible never gives the civil government the responsibility for educating our children.  That is the parents’ God-given role, and you cannot abdicate that to the government because of something that a human judge, who is in violation of the Word of God, declares.

There is only one Law, God’s Law.  Any “laws” made that violate God’s Law are not laws at all, but lawlessness.  And Christians must follow the Law, no matter what. 

I am sure rumors of this ruling in California will cause the faint hearted or theologically confused to waver about homeschooling.  But the “manly men” remain unshaken.

From God Made Mothers:

Dear Lord, I do not ask
That Thou should'st give me some high work of Thine,
Some noble calling, or some wondrous task.
Give me a little hand to hold in mine;
Give me a little child to point the way
Over the strange, sweet path that leads to, Thee;
Give me a little voice to teach to pray;
Give me two shining eyes Thy face to see.
The only crown I ask, dear Lord, to wear
Is this: that I may teach a little child.
I do not ask that I may ever stand
Among the wise, the worthy, or the great;
I only ask that softly, hand in hand,
A child and I may enter at the gate.

- Author Unknown

It is disturbing enough that the majority of Christians still have their children in public schools.  But one does not have to look too far to find a lot of “former homeschoolers” in those public schools as well.  The apparently high attrition rate of homeschoolers is an issue that those of us who homeschool, or encourage others to, need to address. 

Desiring to protect our children from the corrupting public schools or wanting our offspring to get a solid education can be motivating factors for starting homeschooling, but a homeschool built on just these will begin to collapse when the going gets tough -- and it will get tough.

When the tremendous monetary sacrifice of one parent forsaking the working world kicks in, when the hefty spiritual challenge of disciplining and discipling children in the Lord become evident, when the mother feels the serious academic responsibility that largely rests on her shoulders, suddenly sending the children out of the home may appear justifiable.

“Some public schools might be teaching that stuff, but my child will have Ms. Christian as her first grade teacher, and I am going to be a classroom volunteer once a week,” says the wavering homeschooler.  Suddenly the kids “don’t learn as well from me as from a teacher” or “I’m falling behind!”  Or the father feels no compulsion to help, let alone lead the homeschool and he may desire the financial gain and lighter responsibiiites that happen when the wife and children leave for work and school.

From looking at what kept the veteran homeschoolers zealous about being home – often against all odds -- I believe homeschool longevity for the Christian largely comes down to a matter of theology. 

That is, Christians with a vision for their family, for fulfilling God’s purpose for them to be used for His glory, is what every Christian family needs to keep homeschooling. 

Now I will preface this with I know there are Christian families who cannot homeschool --- maybe the mother suffers from mental illness, alcoholism or another serious problem where they should not be with children.  There exits a huge shortage of affordable Christian schools that could be filled with the children from such families. 

But for the majority of Christian families who can create a safe, loving, healthy home where Christ is honored – they are well qualified to raise their children at home, and they need to get that exciting, big picture vision for their family to really go the distance. And this vision should be shared with the children, too.

Recently our family was standing in front of local Planned Parenthood. Not only is it part of their education to learn how to witness for Christ and save babies there, but we point out to them that this location is a “high place”in the land.  Like King Josiah, we are to take down the high places.  “But how, Mom?” they ask.  Through doing the best they can in math, science, writing, reading, etc. – maybe one day they can become a judge who helps to outlaw child killing, or a parent who passes on a life ethic to their children. 

If our only goal is to get our children to recite the Sinner’s Prayer, and just try to survive in a world that is supposed to get worse even in areas where there are many believers, I think we have too small a goal.

Years ago, when my husband and I ran a pro-family ministry on our secular college campus, we called all the Christian groups together for a prayer time.  We then asked them to work on getting Christians elected to school government and to help us get rid of the college-sponsored pornography and homosexual movie nights.  Besides the erroneous view many of them had that Christians should not get involved in politics, many acted like trying to make the campus less evil was somehow unspiritual. 

We challenged them that a place with Christians should be different than a place without them.  And that cleaning up the place, taking dominion in the name of Jesus, was a blessing to those who dwelt there.  To make a long story short, although the movies had been shown for 20 years, God used us to get them out in a matter of months.

My point is, what vision do you have for your family and how God could use all of you for His purpose — and does this motivate you to carry on during the storms?   

If they haven’t already, your kids are going to look at their math one day and ask you, “What is the point?’ You are going to wake up to a mountain of laundry and a day of children needing you and ask yourself, “What is the point?” 

What if you saw it as taking dominion over your household in the name of Jesus.  A household with Christians should look different than a household without.  Cleaning up the place, and teaching the children to do so, is a blessing to those who dwell there. Homeschooling the children in the Lord brings souls to Him and blesses others. And a husband who catches the vision rises up to take his rightful place as head of such a  home. 

Whether you are considering homeschooling, just staring homeschooling or if you have a call on your life to encourage others to homeschool, please take this to heart.  Homeschooling is the harder, but much better road if done the Lord’s way and with a solid vision for victory in Jesus.

You can read John Corcoran's story out of San Diego here.  It is an intriguing older story -- if just for the fact that he has made a cottage industry of his shame, complete with a foundation and books -- which might be the only reason this got any press after all these years.

Nevertheless, I will use this story just the same to reiterate that you can homeschool your children better than the public school system -- academically, spiritually, and socially.

I will add that I spent a short time as a literacy tutor, volunteering in Washington when I was in the Army.  You might consider it a good homeschool activity for your older teens (under proper supervision).  There are literacy organizations in nearly every community in the country.  And, given the decrepit state of education in our nation, literacy volunteers are sorely needed.

It is an opportunity to teach someone in need of a functional skill and an opportunity to be salt and light.  You could even start a program at your church. 

When Kathy and I lived in Irvine, we saw an opportunity to reach the large Persian and Asian populations for Christ by starting free ESL (English as a Second Language) classes at our church.  It was great time of fellowship, witnessing, and meeting new friends.

Denise Kanter is suing Charles and Kathy Lowers, the founders of the original "Considering Homeschooling" ministry. 

You can read Denise Kanter's fraudulent claims of Violations of the Lanham Act, Declaratory Relief, Unfair Competition, Infringement of Common Law Trademarks, Violation of California Business & Professions Code Sections 17200, Et Seq., Defamation, Invasion of Privacy, and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress here.

Denise and Gary Kanter filed the first legal action against Charles and Kathy Lowers.  On May 24, 2006 Denise and Gary Kanter, under their corporate name Morningstar Educational Network, filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office before The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board the following suit:

MorningStar Educational Network
v.
Homeschool Family, Inc.

So there Kathy and I were.  It seemed surreal.  Trial date set, discovery, lawyers, and the prospect of tens of thousands of dollars to defend our ministry and name.  What was a poor homeschool family to do?  We had never been involved in anything like this before.  Could someone really block us from using the name of the ministry we founded?

More than five years before, Kathy and I had asked God to show us how He would have us serve Him as a family.  God gave us the vision of homeschool evangelism to parents of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  God gave us the name Considering Homeschooling.  And, God glorified Himself by bringing children out of public schools and daycares - back into the loving arms of their parents - and privileged Kathy and I by making us a witness to His good works.  We concluded then that it was our duty to protect Considering Homeschooling.

Much has happened since then and we are still praying that Denise Kanter would accept our open offer to enter into Christian mediation/arbitration through Peacemaker Ministries and settle all of our disputes in a way the glorifies God.

Over the years, I have been so blessed to be able to pan out nuggets of golden wisdom from a variety of godly, veteran homeschool moms.  The many Christian homeschoolers who spoke at our ministry all homeschooled somewhat differently, as God makes each family unique, but I always gleaned something valuable for my family from every one. (Some talks from homeschool veterans, by the way, are available free at Exploring Homeschooling.) Their advice has saved me so much grief, money and time “reinventing the wheel.” 

Often those considering or starting homeschooling want to know what it is that will make their journey successful.  Naturally, thoughts of the best curriculum, home management techniques, field trip opportunities or other aspects of home education come to mind. 

But today I want to share with the most valuable advice I ever heard from wise homeschoolers about what should top the “list for success” in homeschooling.  By far, the most essential part of homeschooling, that crucial thing you need to have in great supply in order to hold it all together is “glue” -- the divine glue of really having a close, continual relationship with the Lord Jesus.  

I have heard several veteran homeschooler emphasize that if you are having trouble keeping your homeschooling together, check your prayer life.   It would always turn out, one seasoned homeschooler noted, that a struggling, “feeling hopeless” mom was spending little or no time before the Lord each day. 

I have had to learn the hard way, so I am passing on this life preserver of good advice, to save those who are jumping into the homeschool journey from drowning.   I can tell there is a dramatic difference in the days when I have been in prayer and in the Word and days when I just roll out of bed and try to start the day cold.  Often mothers of little children will moan, “but I have no time!”  I can tell you this –that if you make time for real heart to heart prayer with Christ, He will make your day blessed with a balm of sweetness so that you will want to always find a way to pray. 

I often looked at versus like 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing” and I could not understand how a single person, let alone a married lady with children could muster anything close to that.  But, I think I finally have some understanding of that verse.  We had six children in eight years of marriage (whew!) and honestly I pray much more with six children than I ever did with one child.  Right now I have twin babies, two preschoolers and two other youngsters, so hear me out on this. 

What changed?  I see prayer as the cement that holds everything together; to be communicating with and listening to the Creator all day is the most important part of achieving a biblical household.  A homeschool veteran with many kids once advised us to rise while everyone was asleep for daily prayer and devotions – this is perhaps the only quiet time in our household.  Also we busy moms can  pray when we fold the laundry, when we cook, or when we hoover over that child with the not-so-great attitude who needs your advocating to the Father right there and then. 

I believe that real, heartbroken, crying out before God prayer – not the superficial, skipped over, just-for-looks kind -- is the glue that will help hold your homeschool, your family, your marriage, and you together.  What I mean is a “glue” that will attach your heart to Christ and His ways all day, a “glue” that will bond your children to you and your husband, and ultimately to Him. 
 
Being a person of prayer means you know how wretched you are, how you are totally dependent on God for everything.  Anyone can say they pray, but if someone really comes before the Savior, they are dramatically changed.  You cannot be the striving, stressed, selfish, complaining person you were before you stood before Him.  You cannot hold anything against anyone if you know He forgave you.  You realize how blessed you are to be able to serve Him by being a stay home mom and wife, that it is the best job in the world.  Also, you get a vision of great hope for the children you only saw as impossible before you lifted your hands and heart to Heaven.  In other words, meeting Jesus changes your perspective. Having a Holy Spirit led homeschool changes you and that influences everyone you are in contact with.

Make no mistake about it -- homeschooling is the harder road.  It will try every part of you.  But, it is the best road if you are loving, Christian parent who can create a safe place of joyous learning in your home.  But I propose that the “joyous” in that last sentence can only be obtained by getting the glue and pouring it all over your household --- the glue of deep, continual communication with Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 24:11 says "rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter."

If you are considering homeschooling or already educating your children at home, I want to challenge you to observe the 35th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision this week by trying to save a life of a baby.  Make it a family project – get some literature from the nearest pro-life group or pro-life pregnancy center and hand it out as a family while you stand on the sidewalk outside the local abortion clinic.

Or have your family prayer time there.  And why not practice reading out loud by reading the Word of God as a family on the sidewalk outside the local Planned Parenthood, the largest baby killing machine in the country? 

In fact, why not make it a homeschool "assignment" for your family to try to save the life of at least one unborn child in 2008?  I know that so many mothers of young children have a past – a past that includes one or more abortions.  Now that you are walking with Jesus Christ, now that He has given you a chance to instruct the next generation, why not train your children to be "life savers"?  Homeschooling them does not guarantee they won’t get an abortion; they need to know what God says about hurting the innocent and they need to be part of His life saving work. 

If you really want pro-life children, I mean children who not only will protect your future grandkids from abortion, but also vote pro-life and work to end abortion in the land, get them involved in peacefully praying, saving lives and witnessing on the sidewalk of an abortion clinic.  It was, in fact, the many homeschool families I met in pro-life that convinced me homeschooling was the way to go ( my husband was convinced a long time ago to homeschool by having gone to public school) .

Seeing the homeschooled children fearlessly standing for the least of these really touched my heart in a way I will never forget.  It is so cool to be a homeschool mom now and see my kids being part of that legacy. 

Having been a pro-life sidewalk counselor for 21 years, I can tell you sidewalk counseling is easier to do than most people think.  My husband and I have trained sidewalk counselors in the past and we can tell you that it is not really what you say that counts as much as how much you pray.  Some of the most effective sidewalk counselors quietly pray, and just politely hand out the literature to the women entering the abortion mill.

If you need information on sidewalk counseling, check out the resources at www.sidewalkcounseling.com and if you live in Southern California, they will be having a sidewalk counseling training session on March 1 with the theme "Save a Life in 2008".

With Steve and Teri Maxwell and Family

January 18th, 7-9:30 p.m.
January 19th, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Knott Avenue Christian Church
315 S. Knott Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92804

Do you feel like you are running on a treadmill? Do you want to have sweet relationships with your children as they are growing up and not experience the heartache of rebellion and immorality? Do your children have greater purpose in life than just to have fun? Be challenged and find ways that God can set your family on a journey of spiritual unity, purpose, and direction of which you never dreamed.

For detail, go to:
Exploring Homeschooling

This week when one of our six children was sick in bed, the other kids asked if they could make him up a snack plate.  I watched as they happily cut fruit, piled on goldfish crackers and even drew some pictures for their ill sibling.  After a bit of arguing over who would get to deliver the plate to him, they not only brought him the plate and a drink, but they spoon fed him too.  (He didn't quite need that much assistance, but he did not object, either!)  Then they took turns reading stories to their brother. 

Watching our three year old "read" a picture book to her sick older brother, inventing the words as she went along, just made my husband and I feel so blessed. Of course, children are not born knowing how to minister to one another in such a way, but through parental encouragement they can learn to "...through love serve one another". - Galatians 5:13 

Now what preschool or what nanny would have the eternal motivation or the means to teach such a powerful life lesson?

I couldn't help but think of friends and relatives who send their children off to preschool or outsource their parenting to others when they don't have to.  What they are missing is not only bonding between parent and child, but sibling bonding.  When a person lovingly helps another who is in need, there is a gratefulness that cements a friendship.

I mean, will your child really be able to call up their old preschool friends when they are an adult and in trouble?  No, it is their family you hope they will be able to lean on in dark times.  So, if you are considering homeschooling, don't put your child in day care, preschool or with a nanny while you ponder whether you can handle homeschooling – if you are a loving, safe parent, then care for them yourself, and keep them with the sibling team God gave them. Sure, serving the children in this way and teaching them to serve is the more difficult path, but the more fruitful one.