Help!

When a discussion about homeschooling pops up, there is inevitably at least one person who says, “I could never homeschool my kids!” Then they’ll proceed to give some reason why they wouldn’t succeed. The funny thing is that all of their so-called weaknesses are things that I have struggled with at least once in my four years of homeschooling. Some of them are actually daily struggles. So, I have a tendency to promote the idea that anyone can homeschool. It’s just that not everyone chooses to.

But in order to support such an idea, I frequently lie to myself and say that I have to be able to do it all so that other people will see that it can be done. I forget sometimes that having others see me work through the difficulties is a greater testimony than some impression “having it all together” (which I don’t) could ever be.

It is always when I have that “must appear to have it all together” deception going on that God throws something in my path to show me that I really can’t handle it all on my own.

Recently, it was science. Now, I’m not the most brilliant person in the world, but I do have a decent grasp on academic concepts. But somehow the girls’ science this year is kicking my tail. There are some explanatory gaps, it seems, and I don’t have enough of a grasp on this year’s specific concepts to truly fill in those gaps. I’m clueless! The girls have been patient with me, but I’ve grown more and more concerned about my ability to teach my children science.

So, I told Doug that I was going to start hunting for a new and better science curriculum for our family. He, on the other hand, had a better idea.

“Let me teach them,” he said. He went on to explain that we’d have to do science first thing in the morning on the two days he taught so that he could get it in before work. But, he would teach them. And me. And we’d all learn together.

Now why didn’t I think of that? I’ll tell you why…I was trying to go it alone. Again. I was trying to promote this idea that homeschooling was always possible. Letting on that I needed help does not promote that idea, so I thought. Or does it?

You see, it’s not just about homeschooling. It’s about life. It’s about the fact that in Genesis 2, before sin, God looked at a perfect world and declared that there was only one thing not good. Man was alone. He remedied that by creating a woman. Adam needed help and companionship. Even in a perfect world. If Adam needed it then, how in the world can I think I can go it alone now? It’s not possible!

Whatever we do in life, we cannot do it alone. It is impossible. Whether it is homeschooling or parenting, whether it is learning how to be a wife or being discipled, we need each other. Anything we do is possible only under the condition that we find support. That we let others help us now and then. That we not go it alone.

There has been much discussion of returning to a purer method of doing church – something that much more resembles the church in Acts. Do you want to know what the Acts church had that we don’t? It’s not a specific location. It’s not a level of comfort (aka, coming in jeans and a t-shirt instead of dressing up). It’s not schedule. It’s not type of music. It’s community. They had each other day in and day out. They worked, played, and worshipped together.

We need each other.

Whatever you are trying to do in life, realize that you cannot do it successfully alone. You will never convince anyone else that they can do it, either, if you try to do it alone. So, reach out and seek help. In doing so, you will not weaken yourself. Instead, you will find out just how much stronger and more successful you can truly be.