faith

Joshua Harris is no longer a Christian. Sad news for the homeschool community. Joshua Harris is the author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye and is the adult child of well known homeschool speaker. His father, Gregg Harris, is often considered one of the fo...

Jennifer was digging through piles of homeschool records and found my book, Finding the Faith to Homeschool High School . She went from panic to peace in 20 pages, saying... "I uncovered a pile of my school related record keeping items and disco...

Cyber Monday with The HomeScholar!

My Cyber Monday sale is geared to helping you!  Finding the Faith to Homeschool High School will give you a refreshing perspective on homeschooling.

When you homeschool high school, sometimes the only thing separating success from failure is faith and a friend. This book will give you both! Imagine sitting across the table with a dear friend at your favorite coffee shop, sharing struggles and scriptures with each other. Let Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, be that dear friend who can lift you up with scriptural hope and encouragement.

Order your print or Kindle version today!  Finding The Faith to Homeschool High School

This BRAND NEW book is on sale in print format and in Kindle format.  Order your copy today and be encouraged each day of your homeschool journey!  A devotional that you can read over and over, each time gleaning a new perspective on God's word and the important tasks you are facing.

This weekly devotional covers the challenges parents face while homeschooling high school. Finding the Faith will support and encourage you along the way, throughout the year!

Let me help you "Find the Faith" as you work your way through your daily homeschooling journey.



 

20/20 Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Wouldn't it be nice to know exactly how everything should go, and see how it will all end?

When you see your current challenges, it's difficult to know why you are going through certain struggles.  The same thing happened to the disciples at the triumphal entry.  They knew Jesus would die, and they knew the crowd was acting like Jesus was a King.  They couldn't understand how these two different things could fit into God's long-term plans.

John 12:12-19

The Triumphal Entry
The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus
was on his way to Jerusalem.  They took palm branches and went out to meet
him, shouting,
"Hosanna!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the King of Israel!" 14Jesus found a young donkey and sat
upon it, as it is written,
"Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey's colt."

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

I would love to tell you exactly why we struggle with our teens, and why calculus is so difficult to teach, and why teenagers can be hard to deal with.  I would love to explain why your specific situation is the exact thing needed to create a mature adult with character in the long run. Unfortunately, we don't understand.  We will be able to look back afterwards, though, and say, "Ah ha!  So THAT is why it happened!"  But for now, it's hard to figure out.

Parents have to deal with disappointments.  A child doesn't get into the program, isn't elected as an officer, performs poorly in front of others, or doesn't get admitted into the "for sure" college.  We may not understand why these things happen.  However, one day, when our children are grown and older, we'll be able to look back and see purpose in our disappointments - and the successes.

20/20 Hindsight may be lovely, but if we knew what was happening, would we still learn?  Perhaps our ignorance of the big "why" questions is part of the reason we can learn.  Faith abounds when you don't know the "why" of life.  Faith also reminds us that one day we will know the answers, and see the positive results of our struggles from today.



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Here's a PS on last week's post on outlasting the storms...

God's promises are true EVEN WHEN THERE IS A SHIPWRECK.

In Acts we read about Paul being shipwrecked.  He was in a ship and in danger too, and he STILL completed God's plan for his life.  Paul recognized that even though he did not expect the shipwreck, the Lord already knew it would happen.  Paul tried to explain the situation to the others in the ship;

Acts 27:25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.

Adolescent storms happen, and sometimes they can be a major shipwreck.  Keep up your courage, parents!  When they are old, they will not depart from your teaching, and it WILL happen the way the Lord has promised.






And speaking of storms....Learn how to save money homeschooling with my free Special Report: “7 Secrets to Homeschooling Through a Financial Storm.”

Jesus and his disciples are sailing to their next destination, when disaster strikes.

As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. Luke 8:23-25

It seemed like a routine sailing

For more than a dozen years you have parented this child, and it feels like you have seen it all.  There have been ups and downs, and there is no struggle that is new under the sun.  Your child is just your child - and you have adapted.

A sudden squall and great danger

The unexpected happens.  Not only is there conflict, but you no longer even recognize your child.  Not surprising, because adulthood has begun, and your baby is no longer a child at all.  In the midst of this growing up, there is sometimes huge difficulty.

Panic, and beliefs go out the window

Unexpected behaviors, situations and hormones consume your growing child - and overwhelm your ability to rationalize, and cope.  Panic.  Parents sometimes believe all is lost; game over.  Failure.

Where is your faith?

This moment in parenting is when you most need your faith.  This is where the rubber meets the road!  You have to hang on to the fact that you have trained your child is the way they should go, and have faith that they will not depart from it when they are old.

Arrive safely at the shore

God's promise is that you will arrive at the shore.  The crisis will end, and God's plan for your child's life WILL come to pass.  The Lord controls nature, the wind and waves.  Certainly he can control the squall within your child, and work his purposes.  His plan for your child was made with the assumptions that this squall would occur - he already knew it would happen.  Only the parents are surprised - not God.

Parents sometimes face a difficult time in the storm of adolescence, and their child is unrecognizable due to impending adulthood.  This passage urges you to have faith!  Don't give up hope, because all is not lost.  The Lord knew in advance this would happen, although he doesn't necessarily approve of the choices people make from their own free will.  But the Lord has made us a promise;  Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.  We WILL see the shore.  We WILL arrive on the shore safely.  No adolescent storm, no matter how dangerous, can thwart the Lord's plans.



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Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
~ Proverbs 3:13-14 (NIV)

It's a hard time of year when school is quickly approaching and money is receding like the tide. I love this verse, because it equates spending money on wisdom to investing, much like investing in gold and silver. The yield of investing in wisdom is greater than the return from investing the usual way.

Sometimes, even with the best planning, attending college will require some "investing in wisdom" with student loans. If you have a senior, and you're looking at the cost of college, consider this verse. Now, I'm not a big fan of loans and debt in general, but it does seem like wisdom is worth it. It's not "spending money" on college. It's "investing money" on wisdom.



Tomorrow is the BIG day!  The September issue of The HomeScholar Record comes out shortly after midnight!  It will be waiting for you in your inbox first thing in the morning!  If you haven't subscribed yet you can do so here.

When I was younger I memorized Philippians 4:6, which said in my version, "Be anxious about nothing."  I remember thinking, "Wow!  I have that one down pat!  I'm anxious about nothing all the time!"  For a long time I had that verse on a refrigerator magnet in my kitchen, and I would often giggle about how it was my life verse, because I felt constantly anxious over things.

But you know, I don't think that's what God intended for that verse :-)  It has since been translated as "Be anxious FOR nothing" or "IN nothing."  Which isn't nearly as funny for a life verse.

Choosing curriculum is an anxiety-ridden endeavor.  But here is what the entire verse says in Philippians 4:6-7.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all your understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

If God were speaking slowly, I think he would say something like:

"Don't be afraid.
Pray.
Ask Me.
Be Thankful.
Talk to Me.
Have peace.
I know more than you do.
Keep the faith."

When I read our state's homeschool law, I often think about what it does NOT say.  It doesn't say we have to teach state history, for example, even though many people assume that it does.  So when I read this Bible verse this morning, I was again thinking about what it does NOT say.

In Matthew 11:28, the Bible says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

It doesn't say that if we come to the Lord he will fix the problem.  He won't necessarily do the work for us, or add hours to our day.  The promise says that he will give us rest.  Apparently, when we are weary and burdened, the solution doesn't involve our burdens.  Apparently we need more rest!  When you are planning your school day, and your school year, remember to PLAN FOR REST.  Rest is something you really  want to plan for, because the alternative is having it given to us at an inconvenient time.  Plan for it.  Plan for time to yourself in the morning. A quiet time, maybe even some exercise.  In the evening, remember to STOP at some point, and not work furiously all the way until you get into bed at night.  Plan for breaks during the year.  A week off here and there can make a huge difference.  Schools take time off in the year to prevent teacher burn-out, and so can you.  The Lord really values rest, so plan ahead for it.