Welcome and Happy New Year!

Hi Everyone:

Welcome to my blog and Happy New Year!

For those of you who have read my "Introductions" information, you know that I love Januarys and Mondays. "Why?" you ask, because they are all about new opportunities, new chances to grow and change, and the opportunity to start over again and work on all those things I wanted to accomplish last year, or last week, and didn't get to.

If I had the opportunity, I might actually like to have a total "do over" for last year, considering all of the adversity I have suffered since my fall down our basement stairs last April. But, alas and alot, this is not the way, so, like Paul, I will instead say, "...one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14 NKJV)

So, with that in mind, a new year has arrived, and I for one am excited about the possibilites!!

For those of you who are new to my blog, I invite you to first read the "Introduction - All About Me" here http://homeforhim.blogspot.com/2007/09/finally-i-did-it.html and then, please feel free to browse about at whatever articles might catch your interest. There are some real "doozies" in there if you just look around a bit. LOL :O) I welcome and love comments, so please leave a comment and let me know you've stopped by.

Now, for those of you who have always wondered, why do people homeschool? This article is a fantastic place to read the reasons why WE homeschool. Certainly, not all people, or even all Believers, homeschool for the same reasons, but this article explains the reasons dearest to my heart. I'm often given that wondering look by other Christians, who don't understand, and think our goal is to isolate our children. This is NOT the goal at all!!! God forbid!

Here are a few quotes from the article, written by A.B. Leaver, and I encourage you to read the entire article. I will include the link below. It is a fantastic explanation of what I believe is our responsibility as the parents of our children.

"What is the difference between isolating and sheltering? There are many differences.While isolating a child keeps him from others, a parent who shelters will give opportunity for their children to learn and grow from others. They will place them in an environment where other people will come into their lives and they will be exposed to different attitudes, actions, and beliefs. When they are exposed to something that the parent sees is against their Biblical standards, they train and teach their children what is wrong versus what God would have them do or think. This is to prepare them for later on in life when mother and father will no longer be around to shelter them from danger. They will have to be aware and awake without the help of their parents to keep an eye out for what is “dangerous”.

Herein is a huge difference, the sheltering mentality teaches children what “dangers” in life to look for. The isolationists keeps their child insolated so they never see danger and will never know what to look for when they are released into the real world of adulthood. In a way they are thought to be kept in a clean, virus-free, sin-free, bubble at home, never to be tainted by sin carried in by others."

"Christian parents are to shelter and protect their children from harm and at the same time train them to be “inoculated” against the world.

This inoculation takes place as we daily point out to them what the world is saying is true and then showing them what God’s Word says. It is a constant time of teaching them and training them in Biblical values vs. secular humanism that bombards them from every media surrounding them."

"Christ, through the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit, will then lead these children through the hidden minefields of life. He alone will be the one to keep them safe when they leave the safety of the home. It is our job, while we have them, to shelter them, yes, but to also prepare them to leave in the arms and safety of the Lord, the moment they are born. They are not ours. They are God’s. It is our duty to not have their world only be their parents. This is total selfishness on the parent’s part. We are to get them ready to help souls that are lost and who are to find their way to Christ. This is why our children are alive. Not to serve us as parents, but to serve our Heavenly Father."

The entire article is available here: http://www.pearables.com/shelter_isolate_inoculate.htm

Abiding in His Grace, for another year,
Lori