you are not a homeschooler

last year as we waited for our “schoolroom”/garage remodel to be completed, the Lord, sweetly, quietly, fatherly, whispered, “you’re not a homeschooler.” i panicked. we were already halfway through the project. why would we build a schoolroom if we weren’t going to homeschool? but there was no turning back on the project. for months i leaned hard into that thought in prayer. the Lord had been so serious with me about homeschooling all those years ago. was He changing my course? but when i leaned in i found something precious there—the Lord was speaking of my identity. I’M NOT A HOMESCHOOLER.

it took some time, but then the liberation came. i could be a “homeschooler”, i could homeschool my kids, but it didn’t need to define any of us. & it didn’t need to take all of my (or our) time & creative energy. as the months have progressed i’ve found homeschooling to be more and more an incidental part of who we all are. it’s allowed me to free up more of our time for creative pursuits as well as homesteading. we’ve all been able to see ourselves as learners, creatives, homemakers. we do the major part of our formal academic work in the mornings, but our learning happens all day long. education has truly become more of an atmosphere. it is a discipline, too, but it’s a discipline we delight in because we see it happening all around us, all day long, whether we are doing our language arts lessons, or grinding wheat, or painting, or designing a softie or dress. we homeschool because it’s the best path i’ve found towards spiritual formation, vocational & social training for my kids.

we are believers. we are creatives. we are entrepreneurs. we are homemakers. & we are homeschoolers. but with a small h—only a tiny part of the whole.