Last night I attended a meeting that was the beginning of the end.
It signified the last few steps in a journey of twenty-two years.
It all started on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. No kidding.
I had sent my oldest son to kindergarten two days a week and taught him at home the other three. I knew God was calling us to homeschool even before we had moved out to the island and had brought curriculum with me.
I wanted to be obedient, but…. Aren’t there always buts. I didn’t want Aaron to be the lone stranger. I didn’t want him to be the only kid on island not to go to school. So, I prayed. Funny how God listens to a mother’s heart.
I prayed that he would provide Aaron friends.
Then a few weeks later, I heard of another mom on island who was thinking about homeschooling. We met for dinner one evening, declaring it the first meeting of the Kwajalein Homeschool Association.
She and I began to pray. We prayed for strength, for guidance, and for other homeschoolers.
By the time school started, we had seven homeschool families. God had brought them from all over. The awesome thing was all of the families had either a kindergartener or a first grader. Aaron had six other friends that did what he did, homeschooled. God always gives in abundance.
Fast forward a whole bunch of years, and now, I think of last night’s meeting. The beginning of the end, where we prayed for strength, for guidance, and for other homeschool families.
As I walked around the gym after the meeting, I visited with a number of homeschool moms who have walked this journey with me. Many have prayed with me and for me, many have been generous with their time, spending it on me or my children, and many have encouraged and given wisdom when I was dry and lacking.
It seems God has answered my prayer, not once, but over and over again.
None of my children ever had to walk the homeschool path alone. And to my amazement, neither did I. God in His infinite mercy not only gave me a husband who walked all the way with me, but he gave me friends. Wonderful, precious, love like Jesus friends.
For that, I am truly grateful.
So, begins the end. I’m not sure how this year, the last homeschool year, will go, but it’s nice to know I don’t have to face it alone.
Proverbs 18:24b “…But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Finding God’s beautiful pieces of grace.
bym
