So, How Do You Know?

“…this is my question for you...  HOW do you KNOW what His CALL for YOU is????  Trying to understand life in His terms the best I can... :)”

 

This is a question I often receive, so I thought I’d try to address it here.

 

I don’t have a simple answer to this question, and it might be something different for each of you, but I’ll share a story of how God spoke His call into my life when He was asking me to homeschool.

 

Ten years ago, back in 2002, homeschooling was the furthest thing from my mind.  I was very happy with our three young children (ages 2, 4, and 6 at the time) enrolled in our local private Christian school.  I could go to the grocery store by myself, I could have lunch with my husband with uninterrupted conversation on Tuesdays and Thursdays (our youngest two attended pre-school part-time), and I could volunteer countless hours at the school.  A win-win situation for all of us.

 

Or so I thought.

 

The spring semester of that school year, I was doing a Beth Moore Bible study.  I don’t even recall which study it was, but I recall clearly how God kept bringing me to the thought of homeschooling.  “WHAT?”, I would ask God.  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”, I would plead.  I So. Did. Not. Want. To. Homeschool.

 

For fear that I might speak this idea into being, I refused to mention it to anyone.  I thought I’d just tuck that thought away, bury it, so it would never come true. 

 

But God had different plans.  I began to dream about homeschooling, almost every single night, but I still didn’t mention it to anyone.  I still didn’t want this idea to come true.  I still ignored the ways God was trying to get me to understand what His will was for my life, for that season.  I didn’t “discuss” this idea with God.  I simply ignored it.

 

Then, one day completely out of the blue, our oldest son (age 6 at the time) asked, “Mom, will you homeschool me?”

 

WHAT?!?!?!?!

 

I seriously choked, then blew my water all over the windshield of the vehicle I was driving.  Then I argued with Parker!  I drilled him with questions like:

• Who told you to ask me that?
• How do you even know what homeschooling is?
• Do you have any idea how horrible that would be?
• Why in the world would you ever want to be homeschooled?
• Do you even know anyone who is homeschooled?

 

Yep, I grilled him to more than a char. 

 

And then I told him no, I would not homeschool him!!!

 

So then I was getting really frustrated with God.  How dare He bring my child into this one-way conversation?!?!  Nope, I was having no part of it.

 

Then I received a book in the mail that I DID NOT ORDER!!!  It was entitled, So, You’re Thinking about Homeschooling? by Lisa Welch.  I just about fell over when I saw this.  Who in the world sent this book to me?!?!  Why, oh why, oh why?!?!

 

I showed it to my husband and scoffed at the idea.  Then we sat and discussed how I felt like God was putting this insane idea into my head.  We both decided that we would “research” homeschooling and prepare ourselves better while our children attended private school another year.  Then, if we felt ready and felt like God was still nudging us to do this, we’d dive in head first.

 

Yeah, right.

 

In an effort to begin researching homeschooling, I attended a local homeschool convention.  The first session I attended was led by Steve and Teri Maxwell of Titus 2 Ministries.  I remember thinking how this was so not for me.

 

Then, right smack dab in the middle of that session, Teri put a transparency up on the big screen that read something like, “If you are thinking about homeschooling, but you’ve decided that you’ll “research” for a year while you send your children to the local private Christian school down the street, you are DISOBEYING God.”

 

I still get chills when I recall that moment.

 

I kid you not, that really happened, I have witnesses!  (Nancy, if you’re reading this, you can vouch for me!!!) 

 

I went home and shared with my husband what had occurred at this conference.  We prayed together and decided we should obey God because that would be better than enduring the punishment we might incur if we chose to disobey God!

 

…to be continued