I know a lady who had a nudge in her spirit to home school her kids. One day she was teaching her oldest son fractions and she knew she had gone through this with him before and they were doing this in school. After giving him some equations, he didn't know what to do other than to burst out crying, and so did he.
She prayed and was sure God had given her the go ahead to homeschool her kids but she struggled with what others might think and say. “What is home schooling? ” “Why on earth would you want to quit your job to teach your kids at home? Who does that?” “Are you sure this has nothing to do with school fees?” What would her parents say? This was a big step and her oldest son had entrance exams that year, what if he didn’t pass? Everyone would say it was because she pulled him out of the school system. But how could she ignore this urge? She told her husband how she felt about this and he was very enthusiastic she start home schooling their kids.
For those who haven't heard of Homeschooling or home school (also called home education or home based learning) it is the education of children at home, typically by parents or by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school. And it is very rare in Nigeria, where this couple live.
She kept on praying about it and eventually she took tiny steps like getting all the relevant syllabuses for her children. She found materials she could use, teaching sites and best of all she found other parents that had successfully home schooled their children. Then the big step came. She quit her job where she had just been promoted and started teaching her kids at home.
No. I am not advocating alternative or supplementary education. This is about trusting God, especially when you want to step out of the box.
So many times we ask God what is holding us back? And we fail to realise that we have to live like Proverbs 4:25 tells us to: "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you." For me, that means not only running my race, it also means not glancing sideways to see who's watching me.
There are so many ways we "glance sideways” for some it's listening to what their friends or colleagues might think, for others it's about what people might say. Sometimes there are things God has asked us to do that will bring him so much glory but we are glancing back and forth because we don't know anyone who did that.
I can't emphasize this enough, but all I can tell you is that your walk with God is a very personal one, like a child learning to walk, who trusts his mother will pick him up if he falls down, who falls, but instead of being discouraged, only strengthens his resolve and in the process his muscles gain strength also. We must look straight ahead and trust in God.
Just in case you were wondering, this lady's oldest son passed the entrance exams and got accepted into the secondary school of his choice. The two younger boys are still being home schooled and the last time I was with them, the youngest (who is only six years old) was showing me he had learnt some programming language and had written a short script for a computer program and was showing me what it could do…
How about you? Do you find yours eyes not focussed and your heart not totally trusting in God? I pray God reminds you of His love for you, and helps you fix your gaze straight ahead.
Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62
By Ijeoma Olujekun
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