Family Life

05.28.09 | Lydia Best

Only a few people can say that on the day of their high school graduation, only one mortarboard flew up in the air. I am one of those people. I was the top, and the bottom of my class. I picked my own school colors. I voted myself best dressed, most popular, and most likely to succeed. Yes, it’s true, homeschooling was good to me.

I’ll admit it I’m biased. I was tremendously blessed by homeschooling. Being guided and taught by my parents was amazing. My flexible schedule allowed me to be involved with volunteer organizations and I loved the freedom of working at my own pace through different subjects. But the way that God used homeschooling to unite my family and bless our relationships with each other is something I would not trade for the world.

I have seen so many great benefits in homeschooling and I was blessed to be an official ‘home school grad.’ I think what made homeschooling such a great experience for me was not the fact that I was able to do my math in my pajamas, but it was the way that I learned to value and love my family. There was a verse that my mom wrote on an index card and taped to the bathroom mirror, ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another just as in Christ God forgave you’ Ephesians 4:32. It was a great verse for our house because we spent so much time around each other and we had lots of opportunities to practice the words in that verse.

Education has many different forms and everyone has opinions and experiences about each one. I know for me, I am thankful that I was homeschooled, but I am even more thankful for the blessing of growing up in a home that made family a priority.