My family home educates our children because of the very items we've been considering in this series. I'll tell you a little about it, not as an effort to persuade but merely to explain why we have chosen this path. Admittedly, home education is not for everyone. It can be done poorly. We believe it's possible for families to send their children to public schools and be excellent parents (we know some families like this). We respect their choice and know that it's not our place to judge on matters of opinion. For our family, however, we are persuaded that educating our children at home gives us the best opportunity to train them in God's ways primarily because it allows us to spend the most amount of time with them. That's right, we are actively seeking to spend large blocks of time with our children through home educating so our example will resonate in their lives the strongest, so we can better control and minimize negative cultural influences from media and peers, and so we'll have the most opportunities for both formal teaching and informal dialogue about God and His word. It saddens me a bit when I hear parents speaking excitedly about how they can't wait for their child to either be old enough to go to public school all day or for summer break to be over so their child will be out of their hair again. I think to myself at such moments: Don't worry, soon your child will be fully grown, off on his or her own, and will no longer interfere with your schedule or wishes! They may find themselves having certain regrets at that time, however.
Don't misunderstand--my wife and I enjoy time away from our children for date night (weekly, when possible). It's good for our marriage and they love spending time with their grandparents. However, on a typical day my wife works hard from morning till night managing the home and overseeing the education of our children. She is pouring out her life for them (and me) because of love and the hope that drives us. We are passionate about raising godly offspring. We want to train these precious souls God has entrusted into our stewardship for a few short years to become faithful and zealous disciples of Jesus Christ. If they end up receiving an inferior secular education and less opportunities for athletics, so be it. We're not trying to rear scholars or athletes; we're trying to build virtuous young followers of the Lord! Time will tell whether our efforts will prove fruitful and what kind of adults our children will become.
And, speaking of grown children, what about those with adult children who are already living on their own? How can those children, if they have wandered from the Lord, be saved? This is a painful question to consider for it involves regret to some extent. Even worse, there is no guaranteed fix-all solution. Once our children are out living on their own, our influence is dramatically diminished in every way. If they leave home with weak spiritual training and they falter as young adults, concerned parents will passionately pray and consider these wise suggestions:
May we all so live and manifest our faith that our children will be firmly established in faith and loyal to the church for which Jesus died!