by Renée Gotcher

If you’ve been homeschooling for any amount of time, I’m sure you’ve encountered at least one person who has questioned your decision to do so. I remember when we began homeschooling in 2010, every time I met someone new and introduced myself as a homeschooling mom, the response would be, “Why did you decide to homeschool?” 

This familiar conversation got more interesting when the inquisitor found out that my husband and I were both homeschooled for part of our schooling years back in the 1980s—their furrowed brows shot up, their mouths gaped open with shock, and their tone immediately shifted. “Really—you were homeschooled?”

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by Patricia Dotten

For the eyes of the LORD roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose hearts are completely His (2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB).

“Dad,” I said, “I feel so ugly.” I was a middle schooler with telltale acne, scrawny legs, and frizzy hair! Dad put his hand tenderly on my shoulder and simply said, “I think you are beautiful.” My pimples did not go away, but I immediately felt like everything was going to be okay.

As a young child, I watched Dad interceding in the prayer chapel at our church, hands raised, tears running from his eyes, pouring his heart out to his heavenly Father. “God must be a good, good Father if my dad loves Him this much,” I remember thinking.

In high school, I will never forget having severe stomach cramps and how Dad walked with me, praying out loud, for three hours in the middle of the night until my cramps went away. I am sure he had to go to work the next day, but being tired did not matter half as much to him as his relationship with his daughter. It was another tangible picture of my sacrificial heavenly Father!

I knew I was loved; I knew I belonged, and I knew I was valuable because my dad said so.

What a treasure chest of gifts my dad gave me throughout my growing-up years. They were pictures to me of a reality that is so much bigger than any earthly relationship: my Heavenly Father’s love for me and for His Church. 

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by Yvonne Strachan

It was an ideal homeschool day, one I had dreamed about having for years! My children and I were up, showered, dressed, fed, and working diligently on our studies. I was sitting next to my sixteen-year-old daughter on our couch, sipping coffee and helping her with Geometry. Then my phone rang.

“Hello?” It was my mom’s neighbor. What happened next would change the trajectory of our homeschool efforts for the remainder of our school year.

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