Stand for Somethin

"You've got to stand for somethin or you'll fall for anything. You've got to be your own man, not a puppet on a string."

If you're a long-time country music fan, you'll recognize those words (and probably sing them the rest of the day -vbg). I've been thinking about this particular point off and on the past couple of days especially as it applies to my decision tohomeschool.

This comes up every so often - why do I homeschool? If not asked by someone else, my conscious asks it. Am I doing my children a disservice? Would they be better sent to the local building? Is this just a "straw man" I build?

I know that all kids will have weaknesses no matter where they're educated, but it is sometimes very hard for me to accept the weaknesses in my kids without thinking, "they wouldn't be like this if they attended school in the building. Then of course, I also realize that my kids "wouldn't be like this if they attended school in the building." Know what I mean?

It comes down to being able to see the "big picture." What do I want my kids to "look like" as adults? Does it matter if they aren't strong in sports? Of course not, but yet I still feel like I'm doing them wrong by not having them in school where they can participate in the various sports through gym, etc. yet that would mean, something else would have to give.

Stepping outside of the box of school building education, has opened my eyes to many things. I think differently than many of my parent counterparts. When that hits me, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. So why do Ihomeschool ? Sometimes I don't know the answer to that question. I don't know how long I'll continue. I don't know if I'll send them to the local Lutheran High School, or keep them home. Maybe they would get a better education and be more well-rounded if I did.

Maybe this evaluation is a good thing, and maybe it is the cold weather affecting my already cloudy brain. The problem is that it is also hypothetical. You can't go back and redo a life. A decision is made and then that path of consequences follows. There is no way to know what my kids would be like today if I had sent them to school. Sure there is speculation, but no facts. The same goes for later education - if we choose to send them to the building for high school, we can't really know how different they would be if we had kept them home. Maybe the fear of not knowing, and always being able to second guess and worry is the problem.

So once again I find myself needing to "stand for something before I fall for anything." Pick a course and let the pieces fall where they may, doing the best I can in the situation I find, trusting God to see me through.