363 | Discovering the "Why" Behind Your Homeschool (Sean Allen) | REPLAY
Show Notes:
There are many different reasons why people decide to homeschool, but not all reasons carry the same amount of conviction. Regardless of whether you’re just starting out or have been homeschooling for years, getting clear about the “why” behind your homeschool is critical to its longevity. Now is the perfect time to consider again why you’re schooling your children at home and whether that reason is convicting enough to see you through to the end.
ABOUT SEAN
Sean Allen is the founder of The Well Ordered Homeschool, husband to his beautiful bride Caroline and a proud father of eight. He has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and is passionate about creating materials to assist parents in the incredibly challenging, yet surpassingly beautiful, work of schooling and training their children at home.
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Show Transcript:
Sean Allen Hello and welcome to another installment of The Homeschool Solutions Show. My name is Sean Allen and I am one of the many hosts that we have on the podcast. Each week you'll hear from one of us as we talk about this busy and blessed season of educating our children at home. And while the title of the podcast is Homeschool Solutions, it should come as no surprise to you that we do not have the answer to every question related to homeschooling. However, it is our hope that each episode will encourage you to look upward and seek the counsel and direction of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, as we endeavor to train our children in the way they should go. We're so glad that you decided to join us today. But before we get started, I'd like to take a moment to thank our sponsor.
Sean Allen The sponsor of this episode of The Homeschool Solutions podcast is Medi-Share. Medi-Share is an affordable and biblical healthcare alternative. We invite you to find out more at MyChristianCare.org for their ongoing support of homeschooling families just like yours. And with that, let's dive into today's episode.
Sean Allen Well, hello! And welcome again to The Homeschool Solutions podcast. I'm your host for today, Sean Allen, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to speak to you today. Some few of you may recognize me from the GHC conventions across the country. I'm privileged to be able to travel around and to speak at those. And we also bring our business with us, The Well Ordered Homeschool. And oftentimes my wife is with me and our eight beautiful children. And we just love going to those conventions and meeting all kinds of new people and talking to you and hearing what's going on in your all's lives. And so again, it's a great privilege. It's a blessing to us. This podcast and speaking to those conventions is an attempt at returning something of the blessing that we've received from you, and also reflecting on the blessings that we receive through raising our children and training them up in the way that they should go. And so before we get into today's topic on the podcast, I want to give you a little background on myself. I won't spend much time with this, but maybe over the course of the next year, we might sprinkle some tidbits here and there and you can learn more about me. But really I want to focus on the subject at hand. But I was not raised as a homeschooler. I went to public school my whole life. And really did not know much of anything about homeschooling until I met my wife... or my future wife. And so in talking with her, she kind of opened my eyes to this remarkable world of home education. And she received that vision from her mother. And so she's a second-generation homeschooler. Her mother has since passed on. But her mother was just such a remarkable woman. And we might talk about that at a later time, about the rich, rich testimony that she placed within the life of my wife and also her sister, and now on to me and to my children in our family. And so that's where we come from. And that's why we're doing what we're doing, is that vision that was instilled in us. And I'll get to that in just a minute. We have eight beautiful children ranging in ages from eighteen to almost nine months. And our last little baby boy was born on Christmas Eve last year. And so wow, they are so much work! But they are so incredibly worth it! And again, after meeting my wife, I knew that we wanted children, but I had no idea. A. How difficult it was going to be. And B. How worthwhile it was going to be. You know it's going to be hard. You know it's going to be beautiful, because people tell you things like that. But you don't really know until you know, do you? And so they're the reason why we get up every morning and do this thing.
Sean Allen And so that's what I want to talk to you today about is, at the head of this new school year, regardless of where you are... And I guess it really depends on when this episode airs, but it's probably going to be around the general start of the school year. So you may have been at it for a month or you may just be getting going. It really makes no difference and there really is no bad time or wrong time for you to engage in this exercise. But I want you to become reacquainted with your "why"--why you're doing what you're doing. It's very important that you do this. And it's not a one time thing. You start out with a "why." Right? There were reasons, or a reason--one predominant reason--why you started homeschooling, and then you never visit it again. And that's all sufficient until you graduate your last child. That's just not true. It's absolutely not true. You have to acquaint yourself and reacquaint yourself and reacquaint yourself with this periodically. And I'm not going to tell you how often. I'll just say as often as possible. And it may very well be a daily exercise on your part. And it's really not something... I can't point you to any series of steps that you need to go through to do this. Maybe it's just a matter of a prayer every morning. Just like, "Lord, help me through this day." And that's... Essentially what you're saying there is, "Reacquaint me with my 'why'." And so not all "why"s are equal. So think about, just for a second, why you started homeschooling in the first place. And there's lots of valid reasons, but they're not all equal. And the reason why it's important to talk about the varied strengths of your "why"s is, you're examining whether or not they can provide you with a sufficient degree of strength to continue on. Like, "Can you keep going?" And I'd say the majority of homeschooling mothers/fathers out there will come to the place where they think about: "I don't know if I can go on like this. I don't know if I can keep doing this." And they think about the possibility of not going on. And whether or not those thoughts are fleeting or whether or not they're plaguing you from day to day, it will come for the majority of homeschoolers. And in that moment... Or homeschooling parents, I should say. We won't talk about the children. They might have those thoughts more often than we care to mention. But in those moments you've got to reacquaint... You have to have a "why." You have to be able to turn to something. And that's something has to have a sufficient strength within itself to urge you onward and to tell you that you can press forward.
Sean Allen And so maybe you started homeschooling because public schooling is so bad. There are so many negative influences in the public school. And I don't want to disparage any public school teachers or children or anything of that sort; that's not my purpose here. But let us here recognize that there are a lot of very negative influences in public school. And I graduated in 1999 and it was bad back then. And I'm still struggling with a lot of those influences today. And that's not anybody's fault. I'm not laying that in anybody's feet, certainly not my parents. They were doing the best that they knew how to do. And they did very, very good by me. I mean, I know they loved me. So that's not the point. I'm just speaking to public school in general. There are a lot of negative influences there, and as the days go by, there are more and more... as the years go by. So certainly there's plenty of reasons there or resident within the negative influences residing in public school for you to turn around and say, "You know what, we're going to bring them home." That's a valid reason. But I want to suggest to you that it's not a sufficient... That reason within itself does not have a sufficient degree of strength to enable you to carry on to the end. You may stumble across the finish line, but you're going to have a lot more difficult time in the moments between "I started" and "I ended" than would a person who has a more, I guess, robust or rigid... not rigid. I guess I should say, resilient "why" than that. Because you're really making your decision from a negative position or a posture. Right? That's a negative response to a negative influence. "We don't like public school. We don't like the influences that are found in public school. So therefore we will homeschool." Valid reason, but you could have a stronger one and you should. You need a stronger one. So why are you doing what you're doing? Because the efficacy or the strength of that sort of a reason can fade, and will fade, over time.
Sean Allen Actually, I would say no matter what the quality is of your "why", you have the capacity to minimize that over time, even if it's the ultimate reason. But that's just human nature. That's just human nature. And so what I mean to say is, is that we all need reminders. And it doesn't matter if it's the highest... the peak spiritual truth that ever existed, or if it's the reasons why we need to continue homeschooling, those reasons can all fade over time. And so the more strength that they possess, the better. You've got to find the strongest reason possible. And we're not manufacturing this. We're not creating this out of whole cloth. There are reasons that exist in and of themselves, and they're out there for the taking. You have got to find the right one, and it has to be true for you. And this is something else that I want to say, is that when you're homeschooling just because of the negative influences in public school, you're really turning a lot of that "why" over to other people. Okay. And it's really not my place or anybody else's place to decide whether or not you're going to homeschool. And so it's really a matter of... Because let me put it to you this way: Over time, when the going gets rough, and it will get rough. And maybe it's family members who are placing undue stress on your decision, or strain. Or maybe it's your children and they just won't comply, or they won't submit, or they won't do the schoolwork that you've laid out for them for the year, or whatever it may be. There's any number of scenarios that we could play out here. But whenever that moment comes, and the original reason was, "Well, we were trying to get away from negative influences at school." That reason could dim and you could look over there and you could see all of these amazing buildings, and all of the tools and the opportunities that exist in the modern-day public school, and all of the "properly trained individuals" with lots of letters after their names, and all kinds of modern-day cutting-edge educational philosophy at their beck and call. And you look at that and you say... You know, the argument goes something like, "Well, I mean, you went through it. You turned out okay." You know, something along those lines. Or, "So-and-so went through it and they turned out okay." Or, "Look at so-and-so's children. They seem to be decent children and they're going to the public school." Right? You can rationalize anything. You can rationalize yourself out of anything or into anything. And so if you don't have a sufficient degree of resolve, be prepared for someone or something or some event to knock you off of the course, if you will. It will happen. And suddenly public school's not looking so bad anymore, because their facilities are superior, and their tools are superior, and their purchasing power is superior, and their educational attainment... or the educational attainment of those who are teaching your children is superior to yours. It's not looking so bad anymore. And we'll just keep a sharp eye on them when they come home and make sure that we counteract the negative influences that we see in their lives.
Sean Allen So there's a "why" that--whereas it does have some strength--it's not as strong as it could be. It's not as strong as it should be. Because you didn't get your call... The elemental call to homeschooling is not resident in the public school. That's not where that comes from. The elemental call to educate and to rear your children at home comes from heaven. And so if your reasons for homeschooling are not found in heaven, I want to say to you, they're not strong enough. Right? Because everybody has a plan until they're punched in the nose, as the saying goes. And you can have the grandest of visions and the greatest of hopes, and you can just be organized to the nth degree, but when adversity comes--and as I've said many times already on this podcast, it will come--you had better have a very robust "why", a very resilient "why". And the most resilient "why" is sourced from heaven. Because God called you to this work. And here I am trying to convince you of the rightness of what you're doing. And again, that's not my place. It's not my place to make that decision for you; it's your place. And so when you look around and you see other families... And look, this is not a... Again, it's difficult to pull this off. This is a fine line to walk. But when you look around and you see, or you find, or you source in other people, all the reasons that you need to not send your children to public school, it is very difficult not to condemn those self-same people and the decisions that they've made. Is it not? That's hard to do. And that's not what we're trying to do here.
Sean Allen Let me put this to you another way: Just because somebody else can, doesn't mean that you should. So, are there families out there that send their children to public school to good effect and are able to maintain good character qualities and to raise them right up into the Lord? Yes! There are. But it is very difficult and those examples are few and far between. And I hope that any of my friends who have made the decision to continue sending their children to public school, who may be hearing this, I hope they don't take any offense at that. I hope that you would just recognize that, yes, there are difficulties. I am sure that in all honesty, you would acknowledge that. There's difficulty enough at home. But when you send them into the public sphere, those difficulties are compounded and they increase not only in frequency, but they increase in potency. But that may be fine for them. And you're not trying to make their decision for them. You're trying to make your own decision for your own home, and that's what you should do. And you're asking yourself. You're asking yourself and you're asking your God, "What is right for us? What should we do?" And that's how you make these decisions. Not what someone else should do, or not what someone else should not do, or not whether or not someone else could effectively pull this off. That has nothing to do with this. It has everything to do with what you can, and you should, and that you are called to do by your God.
Sean Allen And you're thinking, "Well, is it possible for there to be two separate individuals who have two separate callings?" And yes, I do think it is possible, and we won't get into the complexities of that. But let's just leave that aside for a little bit. Others may, perhaps you may not, when it comes to the schooling of your children. Others may, you may not. And it doesn't matter what others do. This is an issue of what you will and should do. And you have to determine that for yourself. It's between you and your Maker. And you go to Him and you're asking Him, "God, what is best for this home? What is best for these children?" And I know I'm already speaking to the choir because so many of you have already made the decision to homeschool and you are actively homeschooling. But that doesn't mean that you can't go through this exercise again and again and again and again, or that you shouldn't. Maybe you're listening to this and you're realizing, "You know what, I don't have these solid moorings beneath me. I don't have this firm foundation that I'm standing on. Everything seems to be going okay right now." But that's why I'm here, is to warn you of the impending storm. You're going to have to go through that storm. And if you don't have those moorings, it's very likely that you'll be blown away. And how many people do you know... And I'm not trying to belittle them either or degrade them in any way. But I'm sure that you have met many, and perhaps you also are one of these individuals.... And this is not critical. It's not critical in the most negative sense that you can think. But how many people do you know that homeschool up to the sophomore year of high school? Freshman year? Sophomore year? Junior year? Junior year/senior year a lot of them are tailing off, and we're sending them off to high school. There may be very good reasons for doing that. But there's a number of people who do it for the wrong reasons. Okay.
Sean Allen Maybe you have a very focused and committed child in a particular area of expertise and they have superseded your capability or your capacity in a particular field, and you want to send them to an expert. There's a very good program at the local public school, and you want them to continue to excel in this area. And so you decide to do that. That's one thing. We could talk about that. And that's understandable. It's another matter altogether, is when you say, "You know what, I'm tired and I give up. Off you go." Okay. Your "why" failed in that moment. I'm not painting you as this bad creature, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. But it's good for all of us to consider: Can our "why" carry us to the end? Can it carry us to the very furthest reaches of our responsibilities in this particular area of our lives? Can we finish this race? And when they're five/six/seven, that's very different than when they're fourteen/fifteen/sixteen. It's very different. And there's all kinds of challenges that you cannot anticipate at this time, and that you do not see that are coming. And maybe you don't even necessarily need to see. But you have to be prepared. And the only way to be fully prepared and properly equipped is to get a hold of your "why" and to hold fast to that. Hold fast. And if you find that there's not a sufficient degree of strength in that "why", you need to find a better "why". And once again, you're not making this stuff up. You're going to the One who called you, who commissioned you, to do this work. And you're asking Him, "I need you to inspire me with a better 'why'. I need that strength that comes from You." Okay.
Sean Allen So, this is so incredibly important as there are more and more homeschoolers that are entering the fray these days, for lots of different reasons that we won't go into right now. And that is so encouraging, so wonderful to see that. But it's also concerning because a lot of them are coming into this experience with a, "Well, there's no way I'm going to send my child to a school to be masked up all day long." Okay, that's a valid reason, but it is not sufficient for year two or year three or year four or year five. Okay. "I'm taking my child out of the public school because there was some kind of graphic form of education that I did not want to expose my child to." That's a valid reason, but it is not sufficient. What if the public school has a school board meeting and the parents come and there's a sufficient number of them that come and they overwhelm the system and they turn that thing around? Are you going to send them back? You know, what if the pandemic ends tomorrow and they remove the mask mandate, are you going to send them back? Many of them probably would. And that's missing the point. That's missing the point for you. For you and I--for those of you who are listening to this--I want to suggest to you that there is a grander reason as to why you and I should homeschool our children at home. And I'll tell you precisely what it is. It's so that you can better acquaint your son and your daughter, or your sons and your daughters, with the character of God. That's the primary reason. And I don't want you to run off when you hear that, and you're thinking, "Oh, my goodness, these people! They just... Apparently there's not any core curriculum going on there." That's just not the case. No, what I suggesting is that in our math and in our spelling, in our literature and in our history and our geography, and whatever other subject you care to mention, we are taking the opportunity to acquaint our children with God. So there are so many spiritual truths to be found in mathematics, and so many spiritual truths to be found in the corridors of history, and so many spiritual truths to be found in the wonders of modern science. And you as a homeschooling parent, have an opportunity to unearth those truths in those moments.
Sean Allen So no matter what you're doing throughout the course of the day, you can acquaint your child with the character of God. And when they become more acquainted with the character of God, they themselves become more what? More godly. And isn't that the sum total of what we're trying to do? Isn't that the end goal of what we're trying to accomplish? We want our children to be more like God. We want them to be more like their Savior. We want them to emulate the things that He did and the qualities that He exhibited while He was here on the earth. We want them to be more like Him. And when you turn your child over to a third party... And obviously, you know, in the modern-day sphere, that's so far from being acceptable that it's become... It's a hiss and a byword now to even suggest that there be any kind of religious education. And I'm not talking about religious education, by the way. I'm talking about spiritual acquaintance. I'm talking about bringing your child face to face with their heavenly Father. And someone once wisely said that, "All that you can give someone... All that you have to give anyone is yourself and as much of the Lord Jesus Christ as is wrapped up in you." That's all you have to give. And so if you don't... If you and I are not emulating the life of Christ in our day-to-day lives, how much do we really have to give to our children?
Sean Allen Now, you can make a case all day long that education at home is just--as far as when we're speaking strictly about education--that it's far superior to public education, and I wouldn't doubt that. It seems to be true. It seems to be that the results are there, you know, with children that graduate from homeschool versus children that graduate from public school on the whole. But that's not the main reason why you would do this. I mean, that's a good reason. It's definitely a valid reason. It's not the ultimate reason. You know, because mom and dad... Surprisingly, I've met a few dads this past year who are solely responsible for educating their children at home. I was just blown away by that. And I was very impressed by some of these men that I met over the course of the convention season. But I know I'm mainly speaking to moms. And so how often have you ever... Well, I guess I'll just put it to you this way: Have you ever felt inferior to the offerings that are abroad, with regards to the education of your children? Have you ever looked at those teachers that have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their education and are equipped with all of the modern educational philosophies that are extant, and have these budgets that they can exercise to purchase all the newest and the best in the greatest materials, and all the newest and the greatest and the best technology, and have all of these programs, and again, all these wonderful facilities? You looked at that and you're saying, "How in the world am I supposed to be convinced that I could ever compete with that? How am I supposed to teach my child algebra, geometry, Civil War history? How am I supposed to teach them about Shakespeare? I mean, sure, we can read through the plays, but that's not my cup of tea. Right? I know this one thing over here--and I was pretty strong in that subject in school--but everything else, I'm so pathetically weak.".
Sean Allen But that's missing the point, because you have something that they will never, ever have to the same degree that you do. And it's love. It's the compassion that is innate in you. That has been there from the very moment (and all of the moments preceding that moment) when your child was born into the world. And there you have this unspeakable love, that can only come from Jesus Christ, for the flesh of your flesh and the bone of your bone and the blood of your blood. And you had that from that moment and you will have it forever. And it will never go anywhere. And you have that to such a degree that there's no one in the public school system that can compare with that. They don't have... They can't get enough schooling. Right? They can't go to enough seminars. They can't read enough books. To be able to compete with that. And that's what you have and that's what uniquely qualifies you and equips you for what you're doing. And it causes you to raise them and to teach them and to interact with them in a very unique way that cannot be found anywhere else. And your children respond and react to those sorts of interactions in ways that they would not react to them in any other environment or with any other individual. That's not to say that there aren't teachers who are deeply invested in their classrooms, or who do not love their students, or who do not lay down their lives. I'm not saying that. But you will not find anything that can compare, that can reach the level or the depths of love that you have for these young ones. That is what qualifies you.
Sean Allen So you may not know all of the ins and outs of the various disciplines of math, particularly when you get into those high school ages and you've got all these voices telling you that "you can't do this" and "you can't do that." Well, maybe there are some things that you just can't do. But before you make the decision to turn them over to someone else, make sure that you do not forfeit your right and your privilege to acquaint your children with the character of God. And so if your "why" is strong to that degree, and you have this decision that you're going to make--"Am I going to continue in this way? Can I keep homeschooling one more day? Or should I let go of these reins in order to see my child become more specialized in a particular area?"--be sure that you can answer the question: "Am I giving up my right and my privilege? Or does this in any way hamper or hinder the right and the privilege that I have to acquaint my child with the character of God?" That's your "why". and you know what, that "why"--because it is found in heaven--did not come from you. Because let's admit it, we don't have a sufficient degree of strength within ourselves to do the things that we're doing on a consistent basis. At some point, every one of us would want to throw up our hands and give up if it were not for this calling that has been birthed in us by the Spirit of God, we'd all give up. You got to get reacquainted with that or acquainted for the first time. And you need that. You need it now and you need it for the days ahead. And your children need to see it in you because your practice will reflect your purpose in your homeschool. And when they see this fire burning in you, it changes everything. It changes your math and it changes your science and it changes your spelling and it changes everything. And maybe your children don't like homeschooling because you don't like it. I mean, who really should like it? I mean, just at face value. But when you embrace or rather you allow these principles or this singular calling to embrace you, suddenly you find yourself enjoying this. You know, it's the thing that causes...
Sean Allen Your children aren't going to understand it at first. Or it may take them a long time to understand why you do what you're doing. "Why in the world would she do this? Why is my mother staying up till 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1 a.m., 2 a.m.--whatever it may be--researching curriculum for the new school year? Why would she do that?" It's because she's learning to love it, and it's because she learned a long time ago to love you. That's why. It doesn't make any sense. And I think maybe homeschooling gets so much of a bad rap because it's not something to be understood by the natural mind, but the spiritual. That's the only realm in which it makes sense because we're inherently selfish creatures. And, you know, it would be a whole lot easier for me to send you away. And then I could live my life in the hours that follow while you're not here. And so and that's totally understandable. But homeschooling is an exercise and laying your life down in a hundred thousand different ways over the course of many years. And the more that you do that, the more you come to enjoy it and the more it becomes something that you have to do. Like your death becomes your life. Death is life for the homeschooling mother. And that kind of death, that kind of willfully laying your life down time after time after time after time becomes something so remarkably beautiful and arresting, to not only your children but the rest of the world if they will truly have eyes to see. That it changes everything it touches.
Sean Allen And why is that? Because there was once a Man who performed the ultimate act of dying on behalf of those who had not strength to die for themselves. And it changed the course of time, of human history. Human history is not the... There's not a big enough term for me to use in this moment. I'm at a loss. It changed everything. And it touched every man, woman, and child who ever was or who ever will be. This is the kind of love that we're talking about. And you can tap into that love in the act of homeschooling or educating your children at home. There's a relationship to that kind of love or those kinds of acts. That's why it is so singularly beautiful and singularly arresting. And it changes the course of your home, and it will change the course of your children's home and their children's homes, if you pass this on correctly. And your family will never, ever be the same. And it's not because of the movement that is homeschooling. It's because of the act of acquainting your children with the character of God. It's because of what happens between the walls of your homeschool, the conscious acts that you commit every single day on behalf of your children who cannot do these things for themselves, who need you, who are dependent upon you, and who look on you every day waiting to be fed, whether they know it or not. And then it becomes a question of "What are you going to feed them? What kind of a table are you setting before them?" So that becomes the crucial issue. Your practice reflects your purpose and your children are going to see that in you. They're going to see that and be inspired. And they should be. You can't help but be inspired by that.
Sean Allen I don't want you to become discouraged with this. I don't want you to sit here and think, "Well, you know, I had that once and I've lost it." It's all right. That's human nature. As I said earlier, the loftiest spiritual truths that ever were are lost on us over time. That's why you have to go to church every Sunday. Right? And that's why you need to take in a sermon every now and then, as often as possible really. And you know, when you leave off praying, or you leave off cracking open your Scriptures, or you leave off fellowshipping with your brothers and sisters, over time those things become dim. That's why we need to do it so often, to remind ourselves to keep in the habit. So this is also a habit that you can and should engage in. Reacquaint yourself with your "why". And if you're looking at your "why" face to face--you're staring it in the eye--and you find that it's weak, right? Or that it's petty or that it's insipid, something along those lines. You're going to have to say, "You know what, I'm going to move on from you. And I'm going to go back to the One who called me to this work. And I'm going to ask Him." And He has it there waiting for you. You can do that now. And you can do it tomorrow morning and the morning after that. You do it in the middle of the day. You can do it at night. You lay yourself down to sleep, you can talk about it with your husband or your wife. You can talk about it with your circle of friends as they're encouraging you, and as you encourage one another in this endeavor. It's very important, very critical work. And you can lift another mother up with this, and say, "You know I see that you're sagging a little bit. I see that you're... That that light is waning. You know, I've been there." You can say that: "We've all been there. I'm here to help lift you up." We can do that for one another.
Sean Allen And that's kind of why I'm here right now. So my family's been there. We struggle with this. We're flesh and blood just like you are. And so I'm probably not telling you anything that you don't already know. I'm just here to remind you. I hope that this has been an encouraging reminder to you. This is the perfect time to do this. It's never been more critical for you to do what you're doing in the history of our country. You know, you're the first line of attack and the last line of defense. And we're at the last line of defense phase in the history of our country right now. And we need a strong last line of defense. I don't know how many days we're going to be able to do this. You know, maybe it's another year. Maybe it's another 100 years. I don't know. I really don't know. But we do know that there's opposition and there are forces at play that would love nothing more than to rob you of the privilege that you have to educate your children, and you've got to see that that never takes place. And if it ever does... If it ever comes to that, you'll die on that hill, won't you? Because your children are at stake. So again, I hope this has encouraged you in some way. And really all I'm trying to tell you is just to press on. Press on in this work, and lift your eyes up to heaven and ask the One who made you and who called you to this work for a reaffirmation or a reconfirmation of why you're doing what you're doing. And allow Him to instill that in your soul and to embed it there, and embrace that with everything that you've got. And then from that place, go out and educate your children. Train them up and in the way that they should go up. You know, draw them close and love on them, and look deep in their eyes and teach them about this Jesus Christ, and teach them about why you're doing what you're doing. And talk to them about the memorials in your life, the landmarks that you have, that brought you to this place. Tell them about all those things. Bring them to those places. And acquaint them with this calling that you have, in the hopes that not only will they continue faithful to the end of their homeschool days, but that they will continue this vision long into the time when they will be called upon to take up the flag and to carry it high. So, "May God bless each and every one of you out there as you continue to do this," is my sincere prayer.
Sean Allen Thank you for joining us this week on The Homeschool Solutions podcast. If you're looking for show notes and links to all of the resources mentioned in the episode, you can find them at Homeschooling.mom. If this episode resonated with you, we invite you to subscribe to the podcast and share on social media. Please use the tag @HomeschoolingDotMom on Instagram. Also, we would be so grateful if you left us a positive review on iTunes. This helps our show to grow and it also helps other homeschooling parents, like you, find this great resource.
Sean Allen And lastly, have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions? The Great Homeschool Conventions are the homeschooling events of the year, offering inspirational talks from outstanding speakers, hundreds of workshops covering today's top parenting and homeschooling topics, and the largest homeschool curriculum exhibit halls in the U.S. Find out more at GreatHomeschoolConventions.com. We would love to see you there. But until then, you can find us every week right here on the Homeschool Solutions podcast. Goodbye for now.
