Posted in On Our Journey

One of the very things that makes homeschooling attractive to many people is the ability to instill in their children their family's religious and moral views.

And yet, it seems that the next "trap" in this project is to treat our faith as though it's another school subject.  In fact, in my tracking program, I have "Bible" listed, and it's the first "course" of the day. 

Now, I realize that making a place in our daily/school schedule for some sort of Bible study is a positive thing.  It instills good habits, it's a good way to start the school day, and with, young children, it's how any sort of regular devotions are going to get accomplished.

But, it's so easy to let it become another checkbox for the day, as opposed to a way of life that should be lived each and every minute. 

This all sort of fell together for us recently, as we went through the difficult decision to leave a church we'd been with for several years. 

In our area of the country, church attendance isn't ubiquitous, but it certainly is expected of folks at a certain social level.  In fact, we joked that when we moved back to Indiana from Texas, the top two questions we were asked were, "Are you originally from __________?" and "What church are you attending?" 

Church is a social event.  It's, as Rayford Steele (for you Left Behind fans) puts it, "Where we found our doctor, our dentist, and the pediatrician."  It can become a surrogate country club. 

But, as we matured in our faith, it became clear that we needed more from our church.  Not just for the adults, but also for our DD. 

Counter-intuitively, what we were NOT looking for were more "children's programs" or a "children's church."  In fact, we were hoping to find a church where we would be encouraged to worship as a family and where we would *all* be challenged to live out our faith.

I had considered that DD would miss seeing some of her friends from our old church.  And I'd assured her that we would still go there, on occasion, to touch base.  Plus, we'll see them anyway - it's a small community.

What I had not counted was how much our conversations about this change, which transpired over the course of about 18 months, would interest her.  Or how much she would understand and consider what we were discussing.

Nor had I counted on how important it was for her to witness the importance of this decision to us.  It made the whole "going to church" business real, not just something we do on Sunday.  Suddenly, what went on in church meant something to her beyond being part of our weekend ritual.

And, unsurprisingly, it also seems to have caused her to take our daily devotionals more personally.  Suddenly, this, too, wasn't just something to study, but something that adults discussed, questioned, prayed about, and took into consideration in their daily lives. There's a new focus in her study, new questions that she has, and a new awareness of the importance of faith in our daily lives.

We won't be giving up our morning devotionals or our Kay Arthur studies.  But, it is gratifying to know that, through God's grace, we've managed to disciple our daughter by living out our convictions. 

What an awesome gift to all of us.