So a few days ago a I was informed that someone thought we were fuddy-duddy and fanatics and because we home schooled, our children would not know how to function in society. We're a cult, don't you know? Apparently, they've thought this for years. Because of who the person is, I wasn't really surprised by this. However, it did still hurt my heart. I cried a little, vented a little, got mad a little, and then this morning I read this verse:
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Psalm 5:3 Did crying and venting help me? No. It wasn't until I could pray about it and LOOK UP to the Lord that I was able to reason this out in my heart.
My children have grown up the Bible way. There is no rhyme or reason to raising children and it doesn't have to be hard. If you stick to basic Bible principles and standards, you should be ok. When they grow older and begin making life decisions of their own, you should be able to stand back and know you did your best, the Bible way, and hope they make the right decisions, based on those same teachings. You can never, ever go wrong the Bible way. It is impossible to take the Bible way and fail.
Building a strong and confident Christian doesn't mean you're brainwashing your child. It means you are preparing them for the world and what it has to offer compared to Christ and what He has to offer. And what He has to offer is so much more than the world's offering.
I think the most critical point of any child's life, but more specifically a Christian child's life, is when they go from childhood to young adult. The college and career age. At this point in their lives they are making decisions that we wish we could make for them. But now is the time when we have to start loosening and cutting the apron strings and watch them fly. Will they fall to the ground and wobble around? Yes, they will. But they won't stay there. If they've been saved and raised the Bible way, they will get up and try again and eventually we will see them soar. "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 This verse is not a promise that they will always live right and do right. But it lets us know that if we teach them the Bible way, it will always be in their hearts and minds. Even when they're not living right, they'll know it and won't be able to stay there long.
When I look at families that are doing their best, the Bible way, it seems that they have troubles in life, but not with their children. Not that the children are perfect, because they're not. Especially, and including, my own. Point being, life has it's ups and downs and they're a lot easier to face without having to deal with spoiled, rotten children, who think only of themselves and cause strife and unrest in the home.
Am I a fuddy-duddy? A Jesus fanatic? Yes, I suppose to the eyes of worldly man I am. Do my children function normal in society? I suppose that depends on how you define "normal." If normal means raising children with lude behavior, disrespectful to those in authority over them, greedy, prideful, brawlers, etc... then no, they do not function normally. But if you define "normal" as the Bible way....if normal is meek and quiet, seeking the hidden treasures God has for them in this life....if normal is hiding Scripture in their hearts, reaching out to others in need, sharing Christ with others....if normal is feeling and knowing compassion to those who need it most, obeying and submitting to those in authority over them...if normal is learning to do things on their own and working hard to set and achieve goals... then yes, they are learning to function normally.
And I pray, as they grow and become men and women in society, that the Bible way isn't just something they grew up in, but something they look at and know is the only way to truly function in this world. I don't believe there is one person that can say the Bible way has brought them misery and strife. It is the world's way that brings those things.
