Random Schooling Thoughts

I was sorting through the bookmarks on my computer, and I came across this one that I found while we were going the the schooling decision making process. I so wish I could put my thoughts down on paper as clearly as this guy at Challies.com has. Be sure you check out the "Part 2" post, as well. Here are some of my favorite quotes"

"As my pastor says in this article, depending on your view on this subject you may fall into the weak category or the strong category. In either case, you will be “tempted by the devil, the world and your flesh to either despise or condemn those who hold a different view from yours…Depending on whether you are weak or strong, you are being tempted to despise other members of this church or condemn other members of this church. If you deny that, you deny God’s Word. Paul does not say, some of you are in this weak/strong struggle. No, he says all of us fall into one or the other classification.” The strong are tempted to despise and the weak are tempted to condemn. Let’s be sure that we do not fall into either sin."

"Trusting that my children will grow up to be believers, I am convicted that it is my duty as a parent, and as a Christian parent, to prepare my children to fulfill that calling in their lives. I believe they can best heed this call by being in the culture in which God has seen fit to place them. I want them to be with kids who are not Christians, to be friends with them and to love them, to learn what separates them from their friends, and to begin to understand how their convictions make them different from others. I want them to see and know and understand and believe in the superiority of Christianity to any other religion or way of life. I want them to see what the world has to offer and to see that it quickly loses its lustre."

"Now some may argue that young children are unready to be evangelists and that it is unfair to expect them of this. Once again, both experience and Scripture prove this a false assumption. If our children are believers, they are filled with the same Holy Spirit as you and I. They are equipped to reach out to the most tender-hearted segment of the population."

"The key to escaping worldliness is not to avoid the world, but to avoid acting like the world and thinking like the world. To do this we do not escape the world, but allow ourselves to apprehend the allure of the world so it might lose its glow."

"The fact is that worldliness comes from within. Worldliness is not something that is forced upon people or that is extrinsic to them. Worldliness is intrinsic and arises from a person’s sinful nature. A person who never experiences the wider culture can still be worldly. A child who never darkens the door of a public school may be far more worldly than one who does so every day."


If you're thinking through this decision right now, I really encourage you to read all that he has to say because context is important. It's long, so be sure you have a good chunk of time, but it's really worth it, I think.

In his "Part 2" post, Tim links to another blog that I also really like. The author of the Cerulean Sanctum blog is an educator with much experience in so many aspects of schooling...public, Christian, and home. He's a parent who homeschools, but points out the flaws of that system and gives credit to those families who know that homeschooling is not what God has called them to (assuring them that there is no guilt in choosing not to homeschool). There are a bunch of great posts related schooling on this blog, among other good topics.

Both mens' postings were/are refreshing to me as we continue to seek out what God would have us do with each of our children, day by day and year by year.