Have you ever felt like God asked you do something and your first thought was “surely, that cannot be God! He can’t really be asking me to do (insert worst case scenario)!” It’s happened to me…a lot. In fact, it’s a joke in our house to never speak the words, “I never want to do “such and such” out loud, because it seems like as soon as you do, God says, “challenge accepted!” Is it just me?! This is how I felt about homeschooling…11 years ago; pre-homeschooling mama.

I don’t know what it was about the thought of homeschooling, I just found it off-putting. I ENJOYED dropping my kids off every weekday morning at school and praying the teachers would make it through the day (my oldest son at the time, was…challenging…to put it gently.) What parent in their right mind would want to spend EVERY SINGLE DAY, EVERY SINGLE MOMENT with their children?! Then to make matters worse, be responsible for their education? No thank you!

But then I crossed paths with a patient, who we will affectionately name “Gina.” Gina was a patient staying on antepartum (expectant mother land at a hospital) for pregnancy complications. Every evening she would be intently typing away on her computer from her hospital bed. Eventually my curiosity peeked and I asked her what she was working on. When she answered that she was grading her kids’ homework, I instantly regretted having asked. I thought “Oh, you’re one of those people, one of those…(cough)…homeschoolers.” The look on my face must have said exactly what I was thinking, because without skipping a beat, she responded, “I was like you once. I couldn’t figure out why anyone would homeschool their kids, but it is the best thing I’ve ever done.” I politely humored the rest of the conversation, and then excused myself to go care for my other patients.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I continued to get to know Gina more and more. She actually seemed quite normal, much to my surprise; nothing like I had envisioned a homeschool parent would be like. With every interaction, she would share tidbits of information about homeschooling and eventually, I felt it. The tug. Oh, no! Not the tug! Yep, God was placing it on my heart to homeschool.

I didn’t share my feelings with my husband for at least a week. Honestly, I was hoping the insane thought would go away. Perhaps if I ignored it, I would forget it had ever happened. But it didn’t. Like a popcorn kernel lodged between your molars, it just festered. Eventually, I came clean and quietly muttered under my breath to my husband, what God had put on my heart. I’m pretty sure he just sat there and blinked, answering my statement with silence and disbelief. Could it be his wife, who had been so adamantly against homeschooling was now saying that’s exactly what she was going to do? He would later admit, to quote Clark Griswold, “If I woke up tomorrow morning with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn’t be more surprised than I am now!” Despite my husband’s initial shock, he was extremely supportive (as always).

Do you know what I really appreciate about when God asks you to do something? He has impeccable timing. He knows what you need before you do. He knows how the challenges he sets before you will eventually blossom into blessings! Well, 11 years later, I am here to tell you homeschooling has been one of the biggest blessings in not only my life, but my husband’s, and our children’s.

If you are feeling that tug on your heart or the inkling in the back of your mind that homeschooling might be the next adventure God is calling you to: go for it! He will give you all the tools you need to be a successful homeschooler. He will place opportunities, curriculum, people, and encouragement into your life for this next season. Don’t let worry and fear creep in. Take one step at a time and God will light your path on this homeschooling journey!