Our Learning Journey

We are beginning a great adventure! Actually, the adventure began the fall of 2005 when my husband and I learned our first child, our beloved Isaiah, would be born with spina bifida. Naturally the thought of having a child with a disability had never occurred to us before that day. I don't think anyone plans for that event. But just as naturally we believed that God had prepared this child for us, and we were thrilled to be having a little boy.


The time has flown by, as the saying goes, and now Isaiah is approaching the age for school. There are several factors that have contributed to our decision to homeschool Isaiah. One, we believe that the education of our children is our biblical responsibility. We must decide then how best in line with Scripture we can educate the children that God has given us, so we look at our options and our gifts and abilities. Two, we live overseas part of the year, which does limit our options. Three, we believe (connected with number one) that we as parents should be the ones guiding our children through life, teaching them the matters of the heart. We think that this is best done in our home, not spending the majority of the day with someone else who has completely different worldviews from us. Four, specifically Isaiah has special needs. He has some delays and he learns at his own pace. We believe it's our job to learn him in order to best help him learn and prepare him for the life to which God has called him.


Our choice is not an easy one. While we have a lot of fun learning together, there are days that are not so much fun, too! But we are committed to following the path that we believe God has set out for our family. We do not mean to imply that families who have chosen different methods for educating their children have chosen badly. We don't have to answer for other families, we just have to answer to God for our family. Therefore, in endeavoring to live before man and God with a clear conscience, this is what we have chosen.


We invite you to learn with us! As I said we live overseas part of the year, and often we feel rather isolated from the rest of the world. I am constantly searching the internet for ideas of how to best help Isaiah learn and grow. I need encouragement, too. I hope that this blog will help pass on some of the inspiration that I have received from other people, as well as encourage other parents who have made a similar choice to homeschool their children with special needs. This is some of the hardest work that I have ever done. I have been stretched and forced out of my non-creative comfort zone! But I wouldn't trade this work for anything in the world. I love spending time with Isaiah and watching him learn this world. And I feel privileged to be teaching him about our God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.