Finances

You may be wondering why I am even doing these posts. I am truly not just trying to be argumentative. Nor do I think homeschooling is for everyone. I am mostly doing this for people who are already homeschooling who may be tempted to think that the grass is greener elsewhere. For some families there are strong voices pushing them to feel inferior, as if they were arrogant for homeschooling. Since most homeschooling mothers feel quite of bit of insecurity, I am writing these posts as a sort of Buck-U-Uppo (Mulliner Nights and Meet Mr Mulliner). One dash of my ranting and you will be able to stand up to a million headmasters in a single bound.

I want to make one more point because it is a point hanging in the wind waiting to be made. I am sure it will make me sound like a bad preacher repeating myself endlessly just in case the Holy Spirit isn’t available.

While this post is an apologetic for homeschooling based on financial considerations it is also a post against the forces that would have us think we must spend money to succeed. Money does come in handy. It gives us many more options but some of us do not have those options directly because we are one income families. This fact seems to be lost on the private school crowd. It also appears to be lost among the go-to-meeting crowd.

It isn’t just a matter of faith and it is. If we are told to buck up our faith in order to send our children to private school and God doesn’t supply then we must conclude that God does not indeed want our children in private school. This applies to a the vast majority of things that vie for our money. It is true that God may very well withhold money from us in order to get us to homeschool our children.

There are many, many opportunities that our family does not have because of our finances. We don’t have the money for expensive music lessons now even though our oldest son is quite the pianist and by quite I mean QUITE. ( Ok, no more bragging). We don’t take online classes even though I think they are a terrific option. We don’t do local co-ops because of the gas money. We don’t do the local community college because the credits are expensive. I frequently have to change my homeschooling plans for the year because I just can’t afford to buy certain items.

This is the reality of the one income family. If you are having a large family and if you are living on one income, your life will not look like the life of your husband’s coworkers. Your life can be rich and beautiful but it will not look like the lives of those around you. If this is a problem you should find new neighbors. You should also count the cost. As Edith Schaeffer has said, “If you want all or nothing, you get nothing.”

Do I believe that it is good to put money into my children’s education? By all means. I also think it is good to put food in their bellies. I also believe that God has provided us with everything we need for life and godliness. I also believe that I am to be content with what I have.

Sometimes the real faith is living with contentment and not gazing at the neighbor’s pasture.

This, folks, is called head knowledge.

Part 1 This part generated quite a bit of discussion.

Part 2

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