Our Journey Begins....

With much anticipation I write this post today. After many, many days, weeks even of prayer and conscious thought and years of it being in the back of my mind, I can say now that its official....I've officially surrendered to what I've known for a long time I should do, that God wants it of me and my husband that maybe after a long time of wondering what my gifts are and how I should use them, I now know.

A couple weeks ago I got a call from the kids school and my oldest was in the office, again. Usually never sick, though while there, he was. It started becoming a pretty regular occurrence around here. I chalked it up to typical kids stuff at school and they'd get over it. Although I wouldn't. It started coming to me, to the surface and I realized I need to deal with it in prayer and talking with my husband.

We sat down and talked about it and both of us prayed about and we both came to the decision that to home school our kids was what we needed to do. No, not because the kids were getting messed with at school, although that is never a nice thought for a mother, but deeper and much more powerful than that.

I've been given 6 kids, a husband who somehow in this economy provides for us, for all our needs and more without me having to work. And I though yes, my kids would probably be fine in school, they'd grown up and everything would become a memory and they'd go on the live productive and meaningful lives. But what if I could give them more? What if I could do more?

So I started really giving this real thought. Not passing and fleeting ones. Real thought that I could do this. So Chris and I talked and decided to look into our options and after much, much studying on it we decided that we were going to teach our kids at home through a private christian school. Meaning we supply the curriculum and teach them but we meet every 3 months with the school and go over work and stuff and make sure the kids are where they need to be. They are also state tested every April. This for me was a good place to start. I'm not completely out there on my own filing independently and floundering but with enough help and guidance to give me confidence and support. It also doesn't hurt to have a great circle of ladies around me who do home school and to get their encouragement and support is so valuable. I could not put a price on what that means to me.

I haven't told anyone, only a select couple of people to get advice and information from. And I did that because I wanted to make sure this was from God and not something I wanted only. But I do have the confidence and faith to know that God wouldn't want this from me if I wasn't designed to do it. It's going to be hard, I'm sure I'm going to have days where I question my decision, but to give my kids a quality education with one on one attention and to be able to share and learn with them, isn't something I"m willing to give up because I'm scared of what people think or because it might be hard sometimes.

So....there's it is. Our journey begins....I hope you enjoy the ride with me and I try to document our days as best I can and keep you all posted as to how do starting out! I've been blessed with so much encouragement and advice and have already stockpiled many, many books from very generous people! I'm excited and and scared all at once and your prayers would be coveted!

Love and Blessings!

Heather