God Fills in the Gaps

This was the devotional I sent to the homeschooling moms this morning.  It just shows how God knows all my concerns about my kids and how he sends people into my life at just the right time.....

God Fills in the Gaps - 

Again, reflecting on another speaker from OCHEC, Linda Crosby, I was reminded of how we need to be more reliant in our homeschools on God.  That might seem obvious.  You might think to yourself, "But I am reliant on God already!"  Then, why do we worry so much about how we're going to teach this subject, or deal with homeschooling highschool or all the other myriad of questions we haunt ourselves with?  It's because deep down we do not rely on Him 100%.  We are full of doubts and concerns.

This has been the case in my own life as well.  Not being a super science-y type of person, but having an engineering husband, I just assumed that my husband would take over in that area of our homeschool.  What I didn't account for was that he had to go to work!  It's fairly challenging for him to sit down and teach a science course when he isn't around all day.  Yay for science textbooks!  What he will do is answer questions when he comes home, but that still didn't take away how I would handle it once the kids got older.  This is where God started to fill in the gaps.  Where I was weak, we noticed God started to make a way.  

First we discovered Virtual Highschool.  Not only did this online, accredited school help our children get any credits they needed if they were to pursue post-secondary, it also took the burden off of me to try to teach my children subjects that were out of my skill set.  The bonus was that it came with 24/7 tutors that could answer any questions my children had, even basic ones like, "How do I start this question?"  I was so grateful.  Yes, it did cost some money, but they were still able to work at home and they discovered the power of independent learning and how to become self-motivated and self-pacing which will be a skill they will need all through life.

Another interesting way that God filled in the gaps for higher education came unexpectedly through my brother, a fairly recent believer who loves creation and science.  One day he took some time at a family event to speak with one of my kids.  He was amazed at how conversational this boy was at such a young age (thank you homeschooling!) and how much he understood about creation and the scientific side of creation.  At some point in their conversation my brother challenged him with an assignment on how God and science do not contradict one another.  I had no idea this conversation had gone on at the time, but soon after my brother started to email my son and myself and presented him with his first assignment.  My son was so excited to get that email!  I was so excited to get a copy of it!  I watched in absolute amazement how my young son ate this up and studied about it and quickly wrote my brother back with his answers to his assignment.  My brother then followed up with a "prize" (burgers for everyone!) which was a nice incentive as well.  Two more assignments followed shortly after that, again, my son ate up.  He was able to present them this past week at the NHEA Learning Fair which was another unique way for him to put all his short assignments together in one larger assignment, so God has also used NHEA in that way to also facilitate more learning!  It's amazing how God just takes over where I am so worried.

I thought about this later during Linda's talk.  If I had given those exact same assignments to my son, I don't think he would have embraced them nearly as much.  My brother is young, hip and cool.  Me, not so much (at least in my mind!).  To get those assignments from the cool uncle made my son feel so special.  I think God knew exactly what he was doing when he sent my brother into the picture.  If I had asked my brother to give my son those assignments, he would have absolutely been willing, but it came from his own thoughts (or, I should say, God's prompting....) What ended up happening is that my son pursued knowledge and ended up discovering so many interesting facts about creation.  He found out that all the world's theories about evolution and the big bang theory just don't hold water.  I am so grateful for the way God stepped in and used someone outside the immediate family to fill in where I could not.  I have seen this over and over in other children in my family, too.  Where I am weak musically, we have found fantastic music teachers.  Where I am unable to provide the work experience they need, another mom has stepped in and given them the exact work experience I could not.  Where I have felt worried about a certain child, my own brother or sister has stepped in to guide and give advice that was listened to with a little more openness.

All this to say, this can be and probably has been your experience to some extent already.  The homeschooling network of friends and family is meant to support one another and step in where you feel you are weak and at the same time use your strengths where others are weak.  As a giant body of Christ, He fills in the gaps through others, through unique situations, through curriculum, even through cool uncles.  Do not be overwhelmed with fear and worry about HOW God will fill in.  Instead watch for how He most definitely WILL fill in any gaps you are concerned about.  Linda kept trying to remind the homeschooling moms and dads that day that if God has called you to homeschool He will provide all that you need and when you need it.  What a great reminder for all of us.