School: Part 3... Praying, a little differently

I've had this post in draft for a while...
Convictions run deep in education philosophies. And sometimes encouragement can be hard to find. I love to be encouraged, and I like to be different...so...
I think it goes without saying that we need to be praying for our children, so I'd like to look at prayer in a little different light...
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"So do you home school?" comes in a close second only to...

"Are they all yours?"

I find that interesting.

And even more interesting is the reaction I get when I tell people that we send our kids to public school.

Some are instantly relieve as though the thought of 5 kids underfoot all day would be such an inconvenience. And what a relief it must be to send them away for part of the day so I can have some "me time".

The other is just as insulting to me...

The raised eyebrow and the long sing-songie "Ahhhhhhhhhh". You know what I mean?!? Disapproval, but not quiet sure how to respond so... that's it.

I am not here to discuss the merits of one form of education over another. If that is what you are looking for I am sure there are plenty of blogs out there where you can find it.

I would like to suggest another approach for responding to those who have a differing education philosophy than yours.

Are you ready.....

Ask them how you can pray for them. What are their struggles? What are their triumphs?

But I don't like to be general. There are lots of questions that come to mind for my homeschooling mom friends...

Are they happy with their curriculum? Do they find teaching certain subjects difficult? How do they manage to make everything fit in a day? Do they make lesson plans ahead of time, or week to week? What do they do with the little ones when the older kids doing school? Are they involved in a co-op?

Or:

For the public school mom...I know these are areas that I have asked friends to pray for me and my children...

Issues with one of my child's teachers. Struggling through a certain subject. Being a light to unsaved friends or teachers at school. I struggle with fear. Or finding ways to get involved in my child's school while still having 2 kids at home. Managing to fit homework...chores...reading...and Bible time in the few short hours after school while giving my kids a break too.

The list goes on and on...

And let's not forget the parents out there who's kids go to private schools. My husband and his 4 sisters were all in a private christian school at the same time. There is a lot of scarifies that goes along with that...and these days I'm sure tough choices are being made. What are some ways we can encourage those families?

Birds of a feather tend to flock together and so it's easy for me to gravitate towards moms who face the same struggles as I do. And there is a lot of passion about education, especially in Christian circles and it's easy to want to stick with what we know. But the next time you ask someone where their kids go to school...

Maybe take some time to find out why? And ask how you can be an encouragement to them...

And then pray for them.

It works for me!!!

If you want to know how I do my school supply shopping you can head over here.

And if you want to see how I manage all the paperwork that goes along with school you can find it here.

And don't forget to head over to We Are THAT Family for WFMW to find a long list of helpful back to school tip and tricks to help get us through this busy time!!