A New Year!

No, I really know it's not January yet. ;) But to me a new school year is almost better than a new actual year! With a new school year you get new pencils, folders, paper and notebooks!!! That's so much better!! (If you're a nerd)

I've been missing a lot this summer. We've been pretty busy this summer and we've traveled quite a bit (could be why we're broke, but hey!) and when I've been home it seems like we've had one technical difficulty after another-either the internet has been out or the laptop was having trouble...so I just took it as a time to take a break from blogging for a bit.

But as we start the new school year-my 10th! But who's counting? -I started thinking again about why I homeschool. It's so easy to get caught up in so many things. And which things will secure my child's future the best and you have to have the perfect curriculum or how will they ever get into the right college? If they can't write a perfect essay, what if their SAT scores fall short? OMGosh!!!! And what if you don't put them in Speech and Debate? They won't be able to argue effectively (actually, that's not a problem with my kids). And what if the boys miss a season of baseball? GASP! They might not play in the major leagues one day!!! **FAINT**

Do you see where I'm going with this? All this frantic "join everything" mentality gets in the blood!!! (And socialization is nowhere in my list of worries, since the first year I homeschooled it has not ever been a problem!) There are so many opportunities out there for homeschoolers and for everyone that you can allow yourself to be sucked into every one of them and it will drive you and your kids crazy.

The odds that my children will play major league anything? Probably somewhere around....oh, nil. (And it's not always for the best! Have you ever thought about how many of those people end up in BIG trouble?) But the odds that they will need to know how to be a good family member? Oh, probably around....1000%!!!

My main reason for homeschooling is this: God's word tells us that what the world considers wise, God considers foolish. And what God considers wise, the world mocks as foolishness.

1 Corinthians 3:18: Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.

My first and foremost concern is that my children have wisdom that will have eternal significance. Am I doing a perfect job at this? Absolutely not. But, I have their best interests at heart and besides...I like having them with me. ;)

So, all of the perfect activities, perfect curriculum, socialization and all the education in the world...means nothing to God.

**disclaimer: I do value education and I literally obsess over which curriculum to buy and how to supplement it and when I realize I have forgotten something I panic! I want my children to be well educated and live this life to the fullest!!!