Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I Surrender All....




"If my life is surrendered to God, all is well. Let me not grab it back, as though it were in peril in His hand but would be safer in mine!"
Elisabeth Elliot

Thanking God for the peace and surrender that He has allowed me as we finish up our ninth home school year. I am at perfect peace concerning decisions that we will be making in the very near future for dear son's next steps in furthering his education. He is beginning his high school years...and I am trusting God with it all. I love this quote from Elisabeth Elliot, one of my favorite Christian writers and speakers. I am constantly reminding myself to not take back what I have surrendered to God. I know it is not safer in my hands and that He knows what is best.

Over the last 2 weeks I have been in prayer about our oldest and whether or not he should go out for high school after being home schooled the first nine years of his educational career. I am continuing to pray and sit back and watch as God works in my heart and in my son's heart as well,and in our family. Oh, so much I am the richer for it and the surrender of every little thing about it to Him. Instead of pushing my will on my son, God is working His plans out in His time. Instead of nagging and arguing and crying, I have surrendered it to God. Thank you God for your faithfulness and thank you for whatever the end results will be concerning the high school years. In the end, the question of where my son will spend the next four years in school is not important, but how we get to the answer is. Thank you God that at least this time, I followed the call to surrender it all to you, after I began to take it upon myself to "fix things." Now, I can see the long term working of it all and my heart swells at your mercy and your provision. Thank you for growing my faith and the faith of my dear son.

Now if I can remember to surrender everything all of the time...that is the real question and I hope that I can remember how God has met me here and now.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Homeschooling Quandary

"Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:3-6

I am praying over a homeschooling quandary. I am sure that many, many homeschoolers go through this very exact situation, asking this question. I know this because I am hearing it all around me right now. Do I continue to homeschool all the way through high school? My oldest is a rising 9th grader and we are confronting this question head on in our home right now. I have made a mental list of all the pros and cons. We have had many, many discussions. My husband and I have prayed and continue to pray over the answer to this question.

One thing I know for certain, whatever our final decision it will not be one that is made without much agonizing and prayer. I am twisted up inside thinking about the next four years and how they will effect my son in his life long journey. I am not worried academically about how to provide for him. We are so blessed to live in NC and the opportunities available are so abundant. I know it will be challenging to continue through high school. I also know that God is up to the challenge! Either way the questions are much greater than, can I homeschool through high school?

So we will continue to seek God's wisdom. I know that the answers will come and that they will be the exact right ones for our son and for our family. It is just getting there that is the struggle, right? Once again I find myself in the waiting room.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Good Friday

Some of us think at times that we could cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking. We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father's love; but the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him? In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season. O thou poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God's face, but art now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken thee. God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the lustre of His grace; but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Saviour have been when He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Charles Haddon Spurgeon The Spurgeon Archive I loved this quote about the agony that Christ suffered on the cross on Good Friday. Puts everything else in my life into perspective when I think of all that He did for me and the pain He suffered as His Father turned His face away...thank you Jesus.