Hi! I'm Jacquie a mom to my wonderful blessings from God and help meet to my husband Wayne since July 17th 2004. Here's a little bit of our story. My husband and I met online and instantly hit it off in person. We found out we could have met several ways in high school but that never happened. (God's timing is perfect!). We weren't following God's will at the time and I got pregnant with our oldest, my little artist! We got married when she was three months old and we had started attending our current church which we love.
When my oldest was about 18 months I went back to school. I wanted to teach. That was my lifelong dream and I was determined to finish school so I could have that career. I never thought that God may have a different plan for my life. When we first considered preschool my husband mentioned I should homeschool. I thought he was completely crazy. I hated the thought of homschooling and told him "NEVER!"
A few years into finishing my degree the professors in the education department basically told me I wasn't cut out to teach and would not allow me to do my student teaching. My dream was shot down and I was devastated.
I graduated college 5 days after my son was born! I was a SAHM and enjoying my time with my 2 children. My oldest went to kindergarten at the local public school. And a few months in my little princess was born. Kindergarten was going well for the most part but there were some issues of my daughter being made fun of because of her speech. She had a severe delay and had only been talking for about a year before starting kindergarten. She had to have surgery to lengthen her pharyngeal flap to be able to speak more than just voewls.
It was February of her kindergarten year when I heard a speaker say something about the public schools being like a day care for those working. My head started thinking. "I'm home so why should I have my kids gone all day for someone else to raise them?" The thought of homeschooling entered my thoughts and I seriously tried to shove it away thinking I was crazy for even having the thought!
God had put that on my heart that day and there was no getting away from it! A few months later I mentioned that I was considering homeschooling. She had homeschooled her two from start to finish. She was shocked (as were other HSers at my church because it was quite sudden) but she got me in contact with a current homeschool mom who helped me get things going, learn about the laws and curriculum choices out there.
When my daughter finshed kindergarten I started having serious doubts! Am I doing the right thing? Can I do this? Should I just keep her in school? All the normal thoughts for someone making a huge lifestyle change! I eventually settled down after a lot of prayer and realized YES this IS what God wanted me to do for my chldren.
I will admit, our first year wasn't easy. I had MANY days I wanted to throw in the towel. My daughter had to learn to respect me as mom and teacher and I had to learn not to stress her out or get mean when she didn't understand or get something right. In hindsight we probably should have changed curriculum for much of what we were using.
Now here we are a few years in. LOVING our homeschool life. God definitely had BIGGER plans for my life! Much of my family doesn't understand why I don't get a job and put the kids in school. This truly is what God wanted for me to do He closed those doors in colleg and opened a much bigger one for me! So thtat''s my journey to where we are right now. Hopefully this will inspire someone else considering homeschooling to give it a second thought and let God open that door to a whole new life with your family.
I've enjoyed reading about your family. It looks like we have a lot in common. I met my husband online also. I'm a homeschooling mom. I have 5 kids. I found your blog thru the Made to Crave Blog hop. I look forward to reading and learning more about your family. I'm new to blogging but you are welcome to visit our family blog at ourspiritualhouse.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHi! Glad you found me! I'm fairly new to blogging as well. I've had mine a few years but really just started posting regularly this past fall. Will be sure to stop by your blog and take a look.
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