Monday, February 17, 2014

The Education Question

Registration for most private schools is under way. With Jacob's upcoming kindergarten year approaching, I've been wracked with indecision about where to send him. What's affordable for our family? What is logical? What is the place God wants him to be? Being that I am a product of a private school education, and my husband is not, I've been even more conflicted.

For months, I've been circling this important decision in prayer. Seeking wisdom and seeking answers. I feel in my heart that we have made the decision that God would have us to make. Jacob will attend our local public school. 

Attending private school will not keep Jacob safe. Neither does it guarantee him friends who are being raised with the same convictions and standards we are teaching our children. Attending private school will not save Jacob. No matter what the curriculum being taught, private school cannot offer Jacob salvation nor grant it. Only God can do that. And I believe that the Holy Spirit can do that work anywhere. 

The things we want for Jacob will require the same diligent parenting that we would give regardless of where he attends school. His spiritual training will begin and end in our home, supported by our church. His chosen group of friends will filter through our quality control guidelines. His curriculum will be inspected and discussed at home, where we will apply the same quality control filter, rinsing everything with the word of Truth. 

In a lot of ways, I think I would be tempted to use a Christian education as a crutch rather than taking upon myself the full responsibility that lies in my hands. Do not be deceived, evil lurks the hallways of a Christian school the same as anywhere else. 

No matter where Jacob attends school, he will be circled in prayers. His friends and friendships will be bathed in prayers. His teachers get an entire circle of their own. Specifically, I'm asking God for a Christian teacher every year. And I don't think I'm asking a lot from a God who can move mountains. 

Ultimately, I can struggle and worry and try to do the things that will save Jacob, and in the end, it won't matter because that is not my job. So, I put this in the lovingly scarred hands of the One who knows every hair on Jacob's head... because He put it there. I will rest in the knowledge that God loves my children so much more than I do, and that's a lot. I will trust that my earnest prayers have been heard and that God is at work to perform His will for Jacob's life. 

"For God so loved Jacob, that He gave His only begotten son..." And that's enough for me.  

7 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your post -- thanks for taking the time to write about your journey. Our family has homeschooled for the past 17+ years. It has been, and continues to be, a wonderful experience.

    I submit to you that no Christian child has any place in a government school system. Sure, there are wonderful Christian teachers there and other Christian students attend. But, at the core, the things that your child will be taught do not include God. How can there be education without God?

    When we send our children to the Moabites for their education, we need not be surprised when they come home and want to serve foreign gods. This is what they are daily exposed to and what they will follow. Certainly we know that God is able to keep His own and not every child will end up as a heathen because of public schools, but how much better to daily teach your child that ALL knowledge is from their Creator?

    Maybe you have considered homeschooling, but it not, I urge you to pray about it and consider it. Blessings to you and yours!

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  2. Jenny, it sounds like your decision was made with plenty of careful thought and prayer. Rather than just thoughtlessly choosing what you were familiar with or what was comfortable to you, you considered what God had specifically for your family and for Jacob for this time. PTL for that. So many parents put little thought into the decision. Since you have cared so much to agonize over the decision and think through how you will handle it and what it will require from you as a parent to make it work, I am sure God will bless your decision to be a faithful steward. You are exactly right that salvation comes only from him and he will be faithful to work in Jacobs heart. I know you and your family will be a shining testimony into the little community of Jacobs kindergarten class. What an opportunity to be a light! God will use you and Jacob there. Shame on anyone who pushes their own conviction onto yours. You are a blessing to me. ( FYI Robbie is in a non-Christian private school this year and his teacher "just happens to be" a Christian anyways. We have also had tons of opportunities to share His love by being part of that community. Maddies teacher is so close to believing. So many great stories! )

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  3. Jenny: Thanks for sharing! My wife and I will be making these decisions in the not-too-distant future, and it is *always* helpful to hear other people's stories and the processes they went through.

    G.M.C.: Yes...exactly...

    Christy: God is not subject to the restrictions that you apparently believe to be at the core of public school systems, and your statements are largely presumptuous and unfounded. You acknowledge that public schools include Christian teachers, Christian students, and that God can keep His own. I would submit he can also use those Christians to draw others unto Himself. You think Christian children have no place in public schools; many others think public schools are an amazing mission field. You should be very careful about proclaiming your personal opinions as though they are facts...

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  4. What an excellent post! I am the product of Home Education, my husband is from Christian School. Our 2 school age children are in Public School. Public school has been a WONDERFUL experience for us! It has forced us to analyze and talk about our faith and the Bible and how to treat others in ways we never would have. I'm extremely thankful for their teachers and their friends and the challenges to their faith they have experienced - because they have been able to learn how REAL God is and how relevant the Word is to each day. I'm sure there are people who can learn those things in all realms of education - but for our family, public school is the right choice.
    Thanks for writing such a kind and thoughtful piece!

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  5. Thank you, DCook. It is indeed a fact that God tells us to instruct our children as we rise up, as we lie down, and as we go about our way. And, we know that we are not to turn our children over to the pagans for their instruction. So, yes, I do believe these things are facts. None of us can claim a particular system as "the one" that produces godly and wonderful children, but keeping our children out of the temples of Baal is most definitely a good thing.

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  6. Christy: The fact that you think public school educators are "the pagans" and that you think public schools are "the temples of Baal" is really quite disturbing (if exquisitely self-affirming), especially after your prior acknowledgement of the presence of many Christian teachers and students (and, I would add, administrators) in those environments.

    My late mother was not one of "the pagans," nor was my now-retired father, nor is my sister. In contrast, my mother was a church organist AND public school employee. My dad is an ordained minister AND a retired public school educator/administrator. My sister is a Sunday school teacher AND a public school teacher. And they are just three among the countless masses of God's representatives in the arena of public education. All three of them viewed their vocations as a calling, and they have impacted many lives for the cause of Christ *because* of their presence in public schools. Pagans in the temples of Baal? Hardly. (I would note that I encountered a great deal more godlessness at my small, private New England law school than at any of the public schools I attended.)

    Having the courage of your convictions is one thing; imposing with rigidity your personal opinions while refusing to acknowledge the objective flaws in your statements is quite another. I normally am not so confrontational, but your statements strike me as ill-informed judgmentalism masquerading as righteousness, and that ought not be left unchecked. At this point, I'll just stand by my prior statements and leave this space for others...

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  7. I do think you miss the point, DCook. You must understand that from the top down, a government school is not going to teach a child the ways of the one true God. It isn't going to happen. It is not allowed to happen. It may seep in because of Christian staff like your family, but these children are being indoctrinated day after day into a system that does not affirm, welcome, or include God.

    Nowhere have I imposed my personal opinions on others. It was a suggestion as you will note if you re-read my original post.

    You have stated your ideas and convictions. Why will you not allow others to do so? I read your ideas as simply that: your ideas. I don't think you imposed them on me, although you do appear to be a bit upset that I stated what I believe. Does that seem inconsistent to you?

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