My three youngest children recently acquired pets which have become an exciting part of their homeschool education. Did I say pets? I meant livestock. Yes, Meghan (eight going on nine), Ethan (ten), and Aidan (twelve) are now the proud owners of three beautiful foals. Normally I would never recommend giving a child a young horse, but this is a highly supervised elective and my wife and I have the assurance that the Lord was in it (He has been known to do some rather surprising things, hasn't He?). The story begins about two and a half years ago, but I'm going to spare you many of the details and only go back to August 2007. Hopefully, I'll be able to tie it all together by the end of this article.

A neighbor of mine breeds, raises, trains, and shows Paint (spotted) horses. It is a family business, you might say, and they are quite successful with several national champions to their credit. Last month the owner called me up and told me he had three foals which he wanted to give to my three youngest children. He had watched my daughter and sons show their ponies at the county fair and something he saw made an impression.

During lunch break on our second day of class, three nervous weanling foals were unloaded from a horse trailer into a pen in my backyard. The babies were not used to being handled and they were now in a strange environment making them even more fearful and skittish. It would require lots of patience and gentleness to transform their fear into trust. The process is not new to me, but the results are always amazing.

Three weeks later the foals willingly let three young children lead them around in a corral, brush their fuzzy coats, pick up their feet, and wash their faces. Aidan, Ethan, and Meghan have observed me gentling the foals and then simply followed my example. It is thrilling to watch them, but the story gets even better.

Remember when I told you it all began two years ago? Well, here's "the rest of the story..."

The gentleman who gave the horses to my children had made his career in the public school system. He had been a part of it all of his life and, upon graduation, went to college to become a teacher. Later on he became involved in administration and a few years ago he retired. He was anti-homeschooling one hundred percent...until two years ago. You see, one day he needed help on his horse farm and came to my door to inquire if I had any boys who wanted to work. Later on the man admitted his doubts that the employment situation would last or be productive -- after all, homeschoolers have no socialization skills. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Through two years of closely observing my son -- under a variety of good and bad situations -- my neighbor has had a complete change of mind. He now tells people that he supports homeschooling over public education. "If I had to do it all over again, I would homeschool my own children," he says. Imagine that! I'm in awe over what God will do through the lives of homeschooling parents and their children when they take a gentle approach to opposition. Two years of scrutiny have completely changed this man's mind.