In the beginning of our homeschooling journey, Kevin and I agreed to take things one year at a time. We would pray and talk about continuing each summer. Over the years, Kyle was joined around the kitchen table by Ginger, Luke, and Lydia.

Home school became a lifestyle. We no longer prayed or even discussed if we should continue.  It was who we were as a family.

Home school became a lifestyle. It was who we were as a family. Click To Tweet

As I look back and count the blessings of home education, there are many I had not even considered or identified at the onset:

1. 1. The relationships among my children.  They are each other’s best friends. They not only love each other, they really like each other. That alone makes my mother’s heart happy and grateful. I know that could have happened even without home education, but I’m convinced the likelihood was improved by the quantity of time spent together.
   2. Multi-day field trips masqueraded as vacations.  Yes, we were that geeky family: studying before we went and reading all the signs while there. Vacations were fun and memorable and an extension of our homeschool lifestyle.
   3. Life skills were a natural part of life.  I always maintained that my children may or may not rise up and called me blessed (see Proverbs 31), but there would be daughters-in-law in my future who would love me. My prophecy (I believe) has proved accurate. Both Tori (married to Kyle) and Emilee (married to Luke) have each expressed gratitude for a husband who can cook a meal, do laundry, and operate an assortment of household appliances.
   4. I learned along with them.  Maybe I didn’t appreciate my education the first time around, or there was a hole in the bottom of the bucket my teachers were filling. Either way, I found myself delighting in what I was learning alongside my children. More than once I remember thinking, “How did I miss this before?”
   5. Time.  Home education provided time for pursuing speech and essay contests (which resulted in blessings by way of college scholarships), time to volunteer, time for Ginger to write a weekly column in our local paper, time for us volunteer as a family at a local food bank, time for Lydia to ride horses, for Luke to complete what seemed like a zillion Boy Scout badges, and time for Kyle to create a platform for a political party for a youth mock government. We could chase their individual interests wherever they led.

Hindsight is always, of course, 20/20.

Home education was hard.  Some days it felt impossible. But as I look back, it was truly a remarkable lifestyle that God used to help Kevin and me raise some amazing kids who have turned out to be incredible young adults – maybe more in spite of me than because of me. Regardless, I’m grateful I had a front row seat to see it all unfold.