Many mothers will admit to feelings of inadequacy when it comes to their calling as a homeschooling parent. Some never went beyond high school, while others didn’t go to high school at all. Thus, they feel undereducated for the task of homeschooling their children. Should this lack of “formal” training disqualify them from the undertaking? Should other arrangements be found for the children? Should someone who is “adequate” be sought out for the education of the children?
On the other hand, many women with a college education would rather pursue a career outside the home and leave the care and schooling of their children to others. Many in this group also feel inadequate to handle being a stay-at-home mom with the added responsibility to educate their flock.
There is a well-known expression: where there is a will, there is a way. The problem with either group is not a lack of capability or adequacy. After all, if you can read, you can teach someone to read. If you can add, you can teach someone to add. It doesn’t require advanced degrees to give a child the tools of learning. What it does take is the conviction that it is a mom’s responsibility to provide these things—that, in fact, she is the one person best qualified for the task. Why? Because, in the process of teaching a child the mother is given a window into the child’s soul. While doing these basic activities a mother has a first-hand view of what makes her child tick. Does he get frustrated with difficulty, or does he love a challenge? Does she need to do everything she puts her hand to perfectly, or does she enjoy the process as much as the product? These are insights that a mother who is the primary caregiver for her children learns intuitively, because she interacts with them day-in and day-out. This hands-on involvement provides her with useful knowledge, since she knows their personalities well, challenging them where they excel and encouraging them where they struggle.
Women have been fed a diet of myths that encourages them to seek fulfillment outside of family life. That is why the term “housewife” ends up being an insult in some circles, rather than a status to be honored. It’s time for the moms of our culture to own up to the reality that the decayed culture we find ourselves in stems from what has failed to take place in the majority of families for a number of generations. If we don’t like what we see, we must change the status quo. How do we change the status quo? By replacing the idea of attaining personal “fulfillment” to one of focusing our attention on building Kingdom-driven families.
Stop giving your best to a company or organization that can replace you in a heartbeat. Instead, make it a priority to look well to the ways of your household, knowing that your efforts will be realized in a better future for yourself (yes, you’ll be old someday), your family, and the community around you.
Ladies, we need to move from inadequacy to beyond adequacy. We need to focus our attention on our first priority and then study and learn to prove ourselves up for the task. It’s not as difficult as you may have been led to believe. If you have the will, there is a way!
The Kingdom-Driven Family 