I was also sad because they had told absolutely everyone that God had led them to the home school decision. Even their children had heard many times, "God wants Daddy and Mommy to home school you children." How confusing that must have been for their little ones when Daddy and Mommy changed their minds! I personally felt that Daddy and Mommy did hear God, were inspired by God, but then let the first obstacle put them off from obeying His Word to them.

A variation on this theme is the home school mom who stays the course--sort of. She buys new curriculum and begins home schooling, then slacks off. After that, she buys new curriculum and begins home schooling anew, then slacks off. Then she buys another new curriculum and . . For this mom, when inspiration flags, she thinks that the curriculum is at fault.

Let me tell you a home school secret: Every good home school curriculum is good. Mine is good, and yours is, too. Just because I am having success with the curriculum that God showed me, does not mean that I could not have success with yours, instead. I could use yours and you could use mine and we both would have well-educated children when we were done. In fact, the folks who pitch all curriculum and just use the Bible or encyclopedias do well, too. I do not succeed because I am smart at choosing curriculum. No, I have succeeded because God ordained homeschooling and I am doing it. It is God, the parents, and the curriculum, in that order, that make home school children turn out. God is most important. His inspiration makes it happen.

If inspiration is so important, how does it help? If God has inspired me to care about my children and to know that they will be losing out if I don't home school them, I will not quit and ship them to the local institution.

If I realize that they, as well as I, need to stay strong, I will guard our sleeping and eating habits carefully. I will keep them with me, allowing them to sleep all they need while they are growing. I will tend to their diet, making sure their food is balanced and adequate, instead of sending them to the land where ketchup is a vegetable and a hotdog is meat. I will keep them at home when they are ill and when others are ill, to allow them to enjoy life at its uninfected best.

If God helps me to realize that my children will learn to be disorganized if they see me being so, I will shape up. I will establish schedules and stick to them. I will force my children to follow my lead. I will also show an organized lifestyle by tidying a little every day, so that my house is never "the pits." If I realize that God is the God of order, not chaos, I will consider this as I make every decision regarding my home, school, and life.

In fact, if my inspiration comes from God, my whole life will exhibit this type of self-control. I will score papers promptly. I will keep a neat home. I will not waste money on trifles. I will collect homemaking tricks and use them. I will try, in every possible way, to be like the wonderful homemakers of old.

Why will I do all those things? It is because I will be waiting for God to show His excellence in my children. That will be the most important thing in life, to me, as a Godly mother. I will not want to let them grow up full of bad habits that they need to break. I will not want to let them grow up thinking that laziness is good, that waste is good, and that foolishness and frivolity are good. I will not want to let them grow up thinking that impatience is good.

Ah, yes, patience: That is the best product of Godly inspiration. When we know that God is telling us what to do and we obey it, we will not become so tossed about (James 1:5-6). We receive blessings from God because we seek wisdom from Him and we do what He says. He, alone, knows what our children need. If it is difficult for me to do, I must do it anyway, full of this assurance: What I hope to achieve in my children will manifest, ultimately, and what I lack in ability will come to me from the Throne of Grace.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 2:6 that when we train up our children in the way they should go, they will not depart from it. This promise from God inspires me to make things happen.

That it may also inspire you, is my prayer.

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Katharine Trauger has homeschooled her six children for over twenty years. She and her husband, Gerald, live in Arkansas, and enjoy gardening, reading, and Bible study.

This article was originally published in the Jan/Feb '07 issue of Home School Enrichment Magazine. For more information, visit http://HomeSchoolEnrichment.com