By Faith, part 2...

To follow up my first post, I thought I would share what I wrote in my journal on May 3, 2010.  

By Faith:  Following Him Down the Winding Homeschooling Road
A place for encouragement, observations and sharing on our homeschool adventures.

The above is what I awoke thinking about this morning.  It was a few months ago, now, that I discovered Hebrews 11, specifically verse 8.  That doesn't mean it's the first time I've read it.  However, it was the first time I saw it in light of homeschooling.  Verse 8 reads:

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."  NIV

Thinking about this verse, we realize Abraham left all he knew.  He left his family, his home, his friends, a way of life that was familiar to him.  His father, grandfather, and great grandfather grew up there.  They had all walked on the same land.  What did Abraham's parents, family and friends think?  Did they celebrate his obedience to the LORD?  Did Abraham get a going away party?  And if they did support Abraham's obedience, were they supportive through and through?  What might they have been saying in their heads?  Maybe they thought, "Boy, I'm glad the Lord chose Abraham, that's not something I could do."  Or maybe, "Oh, I'm so glad He chose him and not me!"

Do any of these questions relate to our own homeschool adventure?  Have you thought them?  Have your heard them from others?  Have you wondered if others had these thoughts about you when you try to explain why you homeschool and what brought you to that fork in the road?

For me, the similarities have been amazing, eye opening, and comforting.  We do not travel down this road alone.  He will guide us, though that often means giving control to Him on a regular basis.  As a homeschooling mom, I teeter on that brink a lot.  (Sometimes that translates to minute by minute for me.)  I am so thankful to the LORD for leading me to this road.  Some days are more difficult than others, but I wouldn't have it any other way!  (Even when some of those days are all in the same week or month.)

As I typed up this journal entry, I realized that Abraham's nephew Lot and his family went with him, so he was not completely without family.  However, knowing the whole story, one has to wonder how much of a comfort his company was given some of the choices Lot made on their journey.