I think I had a sum total of 17 days during my homeschool years when I felt confident & qualified...maybe.
17 days plucked out of the midst of 25 years is not all that many days.
I've heard that confidence is key, which may be true, but it isn't a key I have access to and so the doorway to completely confident living remains locked tight.
In my daily Bible reading, I came across these words:
"We are confident...because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us..."
- from 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, New Living Translation
Even though the youngest of our five children finished her fourth year of college last month, in spite of the fact that I haven't done a single lick of homeschooling in over four years - nevertheless, I read those words this morning and thought about how they applied to my life as a homeschool mom.
In and of myself, I wasn't confident. I was too much of a realist, I suppose.
Maybe I would totally mess up their character.
Perhaps I would never grasp high school math and they would suffer irreparable harm for the rest of their lives.
What if I made a mistake on their college application, goofed when I was putting together their transcript, or totally spaced out and didn't get them that one critical course they needed to take in order to, oh I don't know, bring an end to some huge worldwide catastrophe?
Okay, that's a bit dramatic, but it kind of sums up my level of confidence in my own abilities.
God, in His great mercy, did equip me to be the mom and the homeschooler that each of my five kiddos needed, day by day, step by step, subject by subject.
And as I look back, I see that far more clearly than I did in the moment.
Maybe you aren't at a place of "looking back" just yet. Maybe you are still too up close & personal to see things super-duper clearly. If so, can I encourage you to scroll back up a bit and read those verses from 2 Corinthians once more?
Place your total confidence in the Lord God Almighty.
The One who was, who is, and who is to come can totally handle anything and everything that comes into your life and into your homeschool.
Your qualification comes from Him.
And nobody can take that away from you, my friend!
He has enabled you to do what He has called you to do.
And that is such great news!
Bank on the fact that God has got you, and He won't let you down.
And hey, you just never know what He might do in you and through you once your homeschool journey comes to it's appointed end.
I never thought I'd still be involved in the homeschool world, but this summer alone I am speaking at five different workshops for homeschoolers. And just today, I got a notification on Instagram and Facebook that an article I wrote for a homeschool magazine about 2 1/2 years ago was shared by The Homeschool Compass - part of Christian Book Distributors.
I may have thought I could take the homeschool out of this mom when my fifth child headed off to college, but it sure hasn't turned out that way!
(And if you'd like, you can find that article on Instagram @homeschoolcompass or via my All Things Homeschool Facebook page.)
I hope that encourages you and reminds you that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
That's a promise from Psalm 27:13, and God never breaks one of His promises!
Also, I'd like to invite you to grab a ticket to the Homeschool Mom Summer Summit.
There is a totally free option, which is great, and there is an upgraded paid option. This summit is giving a chunk of the proceeds to the organization For The Silent to help them in their fight against human trafficking. I'm so honored to be able to partner with the summit's founder and donate to this group.
Here's a link for info about the summit.
And here is a quick little live video I did with some of my favorite workshops.
And please don't ever forget that your qualification comes straight from God.
You, my friend, are totally qualified.
God bless you!
~ Jan L. Burt
host of the award-winning podcast
getting the promises of God into the people of God, one podcast episode at a time
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