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Following God's Call to Homeschool · Grace for My Home | Christian Women, Growing in Faith

• 1:13
  Audrey McCracken: Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From A Home.
• 1:16
  Audrey McCracken: I'm Audrey McCracken.
• 1:18
  Audrey McCracken: Happy New Year.
• 1:19
  Audrey McCracken: I'm so glad to be back with you again this week.
• 1:22
  Audrey McCracken: Thank you for being patient and waiting on me.
• 1:24
  Audrey McCracken: I had a brief two-week delay in getting back with you.
• 1:29
  Audrey McCracken: We just had a lot of things we're trying to wrap up at the end of the year.
• 1:32
  Audrey McCracken: My husband and I were able to get away for a few days and that was wonderful.
• 1:38
  Audrey McCracken: We went to Wilmington, north Carolina, and spent two nights there and just had some time together.
• 1:43
  Audrey McCracken: Then, when I got back, I recorded a podcast and when I went back and listened to it the audio was horrible, so I thought I can't put that out there.
• 1:55
  Audrey McCracken: So here I am again doing the same podcast twice.
• 1:58
  Audrey McCracken: So maybe I just needed to, maybe it just wasn't the right thing, maybe I just needed to switch it around a little bit, but I'm so glad to be back with you again this week and I really do hope that your new year has gotten off to a great start.
• 2:13
  Audrey McCracken: I want to start the year off with a four-week homeschool series, and I understand that some of you and probably many of you that listen are not homeschool families or do not homeschool, and that's fine.
• 2:29
  Audrey McCracken: I know some of the principles that I'm going to share transcend homeschooling, and it's a walk of faith, and all of us walk by faith, or at least we're called to walk by faith and not by sight, and so I want to share with you some things that are on my heart, that I've been mulling around about the homeschool life, and I hope that they're encouraging to you.
• 2:52
  Audrey McCracken: You know, I loved homeschooling.
• 2:54
  Audrey McCracken: I loved it, which is surprising, because it's not something I ever thought I would do.
• 2:59
  Audrey McCracken: Today, I'd like to talk with you about the calling of homeschooling.
• 3:05
  Audrey McCracken: I believe that I was called into homeschooling.
• 3:08
  Audrey McCracken: I had never been around homeschoolers and so it was all new to me.
• 3:14
  Audrey McCracken: It wasn't something that I, you know, burned in my heart that, oh, one day I want to homeschool my children.
• 3:19
  Audrey McCracken: It really was not even on my radar, and so when I had children, I did want to be able you know, as the Lord provided to be able to stay home with them and raise them.
• 3:30
  Audrey McCracken: I was not able to do that when they were very young, when we first had them, just because of financial reasons.
• 3:36
  Audrey McCracken: I was a working mom, or working outside of the house, mom, I should say.
• 3:41
  Audrey McCracken: And then, you know, as the years went on and we planned, I was able to put my career on hold, come home and get my children to school age.
• 3:53
  Audrey McCracken: See, when they were very little, when I was still working, my church had a daycare and a school and my sister was the principal of that school and the people who worked in that school were all very close to me.
• 4:08
  Audrey McCracken: Some of them, most of them, I went to church with and had known for years, and so it felt like a very safe place for my children and we were very blessed in that.
• 4:19
  Audrey McCracken: But because of various reasons, that school shut down so I didn't have anywhere and you know how hard it is to get a child in daycare.
• 4:29
  Audrey McCracken: Well, we worked it out.
• 4:32
  Audrey McCracken: We had people watch the kids, but it was just in my heart that I want to be home with them and the Lord opened up a door for me to be able to do that.
• 4:40
  Audrey McCracken: And it was not easy.
• 4:41
  Audrey McCracken: It wasn't easy on us financially, but the Lord made a way and so we took it.
• 4:48
  Audrey McCracken: And then, as I was home with them, the more I was with them, the more I wanted to be with them, and the Lord started putting people in my path.
• 4:57
  Audrey McCracken: That started talking with me about homeschooling, and I had never been exposed to that world.
• 5:02
  Audrey McCracken: It wasn't something that, you know, my heart had ever desired to do, but I started seeing possibilities.
• 5:10
  Audrey McCracken: I think, you know, growing up, the only homeschool family I had ever been around had ever been around.
• 5:15
  Audrey McCracken: They just they seemed to not want anything to do with, you know, modern society and you know that was not the kind of life I wanted to live.
• 5:26
  Audrey McCracken: So I had kind of a bad connotation of homeschooling and I know homeschooling has changed so much over the years.
• 5:32
  Audrey McCracken: But that was kind of what was in my head is what a homeschool family looked like, and you know that wasn't something I wanted.
• 5:39
  Audrey McCracken: But as I started seeing things and seeing ways that other people were homeschooling, I thought, oh wow, that's really cool the way, you know, they have that time with their children.
• 5:52
  Audrey McCracken: And as I prayed and it just felt like the Lord kept popping people into my life that you know, would tell me about this and that, and I think, oh, wow, I'd really love that.
• 6:04
  Audrey McCracken: And so I started praying and saying, lord, is this what you want me to do?
• 6:07
  Audrey McCracken: And I felt very strongly that the Lord did, you know.
• 6:11
  Audrey McCracken: And and I kept praying and I kept saying, lord, are you sure this is?
• 6:15
  Audrey McCracken: This is more than a couple of years commitment.
• 6:18
  Audrey McCracken: You know this is, this is a big commitment because my thought was I will quit my job for a few years.
• 6:23
  Audrey McCracken: Even my boss told me that I was welcome to come back and that I'll start my career again after they're in kindergarten, after after the last one is in kindergarten.
• 6:34
  Audrey McCracken: But homeschooling, that was a huge commitment.
• 6:39
  Audrey McCracken: That would be years of my life and I would have to learn something that I had no idea how to do.
• 6:46
  Audrey McCracken: But as I prayed and I continued to pray, I felt very strongly this is what the Lord wanted me to do.
• 6:51
  Audrey McCracken: And so I went to my husband and I shared this with him.
• 6:57
  Audrey McCracken: Well, he was not as enthusiastic as I was, my husband at the time.
• 7:01
  Audrey McCracken: He was a high school assistant principal at our local high school and I went to him and I told him I would like to homeschool our children and, like I said, he was not enthusiastic.
• 7:16
  Audrey McCracken: You know his first thought was no.
• 7:18
  Audrey McCracken: He asked me do you know what I do for a living?
• 7:21
  Audrey McCracken: And I said I do.
• 7:22
  Audrey McCracken: But I feel very strongly that the Lord has put this on my heart and that this is how I am to disciple our children.
• 7:29
  Audrey McCracken: And he really did not.
• 7:34
  Audrey McCracken: He didn't see it.
• 7:35
  Audrey McCracken: He did not see that and I asked him would you pray?
• 7:38
  Audrey McCracken: Would you pray that you know, if this is the Lord's will for our family, that he would show you?
• 7:44
  Audrey McCracken: And he told me he would pray.
• 7:47
  Audrey McCracken: And several weeks got come back later and said have you prayed, what do you think?
• 7:52
  Audrey McCracken: And he said well, I've prayed, but I still I don't see it and I'm thinking he's really not praying.
• 7:57
  Audrey McCracken: That's what I thought.
• 7:59
  Audrey McCracken: I thought, okay, he's just thrown it up.
• 8:00
  Audrey McCracken: You know, he's thrown up a prayer, but his heart's not in it and he's not listening.
• 8:05
  Audrey McCracken: And so, you know, I went back to the Lord and I said Lord, you know, you have to tell Michael, you have to talk, you have to speak to my husband, and you know, and I'd come back a few weeks later.
• 8:17
  Audrey McCracken: You know, what did you know?
• 8:22
  Audrey McCracken: Have you heard from the Lord?
• 8:22
  Audrey McCracken: Have you prayed about that?
• 8:23
  Audrey McCracken: Yes, I've prayed, but I don't think that's what we need to do.
• 8:25
  Audrey McCracken: And I just felt like I was stuck and I prayed that way.
• 8:29
  Audrey McCracken: I said Lord, here I am.
• 8:30
  Audrey McCracken: You know, my heart is to obey you.
• 8:33
  Audrey McCracken: I feel like you've put this on my heart.
• 8:34
  Audrey McCracken: But you know my children, they have two parents.
• 8:38
  Audrey McCracken: They don't it's not just me.
• 8:45
  Audrey McCracken: They have a mother and a father and I, you know, I wanted the Lord to speak to both of us.
• 8:49
  Audrey McCracken: The word division?
• 8:49
  Audrey McCracken: It's made up of die and vision Die meaning to and vision meaning to see forward into the future.
• 8:55
  Audrey McCracken: And if you have two visions in the same household, then you're not walking together.
• 9:03
  Audrey McCracken: You know, you're going separate places, and I didn't want that.
• 9:07
  Audrey McCracken: You know I don't want division in my home.
• 9:09
  Audrey McCracken: I want us to have the same vision and I want that to be the vision that God gives us.
• 9:15
  Audrey McCracken: And so my prayer was Lord, give us the same vision.
• 9:18
  Audrey McCracken: But it wasn't going anywhere.
• 9:20
  Audrey McCracken: It seemed like he wasn't on board and I felt even more strongly every time I prayed.
• 9:27
  Audrey McCracken: And so, finally, I went to the Lord and I said here I am.
• 9:31
  Audrey McCracken: If this is what you've asked of me, this is what I want to do, I give my life to this.
• 9:36
  Audrey McCracken: If this is what you'd have me do, I'm here, but you have to speak to my husband.
• 9:41
  Audrey McCracken: And I remember reading in the Bible about Mary and Joseph, and God called Mary to a very high calling.
• 9:50
  Audrey McCracken: He asked a lot of her.
• 9:51
  Audrey McCracken: She took on the responsibility of raising God's son huge responsibility.
• 9:58
  Audrey McCracken: And God had to speak to Joseph to let him know this is what I've asked of Mary.
• 10:06
  Audrey McCracken: And I said, lord, the same God who spoke to Mary spoke to Joseph.
• 10:10
  Audrey McCracken: Now, if you're speaking to me, you must speak to my husband, because we've got to do this together in unity Amen.
• 10:19
  Audrey McCracken: I could have manipulated, I could have pressured him, I could have gotten angry, but see, none of those things bring the fruit that I wanted.
• 10:30
  Audrey McCracken: I wanted unity.
• 10:31
  Audrey McCracken: I wanted us to know that we're doing what God asked of us, and I didn't want to live that kind of life.
• 10:37
  Audrey McCracken: I wanted God to speak and so I decided to fast.
• 10:41
  Audrey McCracken: I did a 40-day coffee fast.
• 10:44
  Audrey McCracken: And you may think, well, that's not a fast.
• 10:48
  Audrey McCracken: Well, I love coffee.
• 10:50
  Audrey McCracken: I'm running a coffee shop.
• 10:51
  Audrey McCracken: It was important to me, it was a sacrifice to me.
• 10:56
  Audrey McCracken: So I knew it would be important to the Lord.
• 10:58
  Audrey McCracken: You know anything you give up for the Lord, that is important to you, it's important to him.
• 11:03
  Audrey McCracken: And so for 40 days I prayed and fasted coffee and I just asked him to speak.
• 11:08
  Audrey McCracken: I said I need you to speak to Michael or me, and I did not pray, lord, change Michael's mind.
• 11:14
  Audrey McCracken: I prayed, lord, show us the way, shine your light on us that we can walk in unity.
• 11:20
  Audrey McCracken: And I lay this at your feet If I'm wrong, if I'm hearing wrong, please speak to me.
• 11:33
  Audrey McCracken: If Michael is not hearing you, please speak to him.
• 11:34
  Audrey McCracken: But let us be, let us walk together in unity so there's peace in our home.
• 11:38
  Audrey McCracken: After the 40 days, after my 40 day fast, nothing changed.
• 11:44
  Audrey McCracken: He still didn't see it.
• 11:45
  Audrey McCracken: And so I said, lord, I'm going to go with him, I'm going to.
• 11:49
  Audrey McCracken: I believe you've spoken to me, but this, these are not just my children, they're our children and I believe you to speak and I will be very honest with Michael.
• 12:01
  Audrey McCracken: But I'm not going to push this.
• 12:06
  Audrey McCracken: I'm going to submit this to you and to him.
• 12:09
  Audrey McCracken: And so I went to Michael and I told him.
• 12:10
  Audrey McCracken: I said I trust you to make the right decision.
• 12:13
  Audrey McCracken: I feel very strongly in my heart this is what God has asked of me.
• 12:16
  Audrey McCracken: But these are not just my children, they're our children and I submit this desire in my heart to homeschool them and I just want you to know that I'm willing to do this.
• 12:26
  Audrey McCracken: But you have to hear from the Lord, and if you're not hearing that, then I'm going to go with what you think God is asking us to do with our children.
• 12:34
  Audrey McCracken: And what I did was I laid the weight on him and I said it's your decision to make, but I am willing and that was it.
• 12:48
  Audrey McCracken: Well, time came for me to register my oldest in the kindergarten.
• 12:53
  Audrey McCracken: I went and got the paperwork to register him for kindergarten and then I told my husband I've got to go to the pediatrician and get his immunization record for the school.
• 13:06
  Audrey McCracken: And he said, no, I don't want you to do that.
• 13:10
  Audrey McCracken: And I said well, why not?
• 13:11
  Audrey McCracken: I mean, I need it.
• 13:12
  Audrey McCracken: If I'm going to register him for school, I've got to go get that.
• 13:15
  Audrey McCracken: And he said, no, I think you need to homeschool him.
• 13:18
  Audrey McCracken: And I was just.
• 13:21
  Audrey McCracken: I was blown away because that's the first time he'd ever said anything like that.
• 13:25
  Audrey McCracken: And I said well, are you sure?
• 13:27
  Audrey McCracken: And he said yes, he said I was praying the other day and I really felt like the Lord said this is what I've asked Audrey to do.
• 13:36
  Audrey McCracken: And I was so thankful because there was no manipulation, there was no argument, there was no tension.
• 13:43
  Audrey McCracken: There was no tension, it was just this is what God has asked you to do.
• 13:48
  Audrey McCracken: But he did give me a couple of stipulations.
• 13:50
  Audrey McCracken: He said, you know, as you know, he was at this time he was an assistant principal and he said I want us to try it year by year and see how it goes.
• 14:03
  Audrey McCracken: And he said I want to be able to have a voice in this and if at any time I feel like they're not getting what they need, I will reserve the right to say I think they need to go to public school.
• 14:16
  Audrey McCracken: And I agreed to that.
• 14:19
  Audrey McCracken: And he said I want them to go through standardized testing.
• 14:22
  Audrey McCracken: I want them to be tested on the same schedule as public school so we can judge where they are, where they lay in, you know, in their grade level.
• 14:34
  Audrey McCracken: And I said yes, I will do that.
• 14:39
  Audrey McCracken: So that's how we started and I did not know anything.
• 14:43
  Audrey McCracken: I just kind of dipped my toe in it and just started going that way.
• 14:51
  Audrey McCracken: You know, there are so many reasons to homeschool, just as many reasons to homeschool as there are families that homeschool.
• 14:57
  Audrey McCracken: You know, everybody who homeschools has it has a different reason or a different story.
• 15:02
  Audrey McCracken: That's just a little bit of our story, but for me it was more of a calling than a reason.
• 15:11
  Audrey McCracken: I really felt like this is what the Lord asked of me.
• 15:14
  Audrey McCracken: Now I want to tell you that I have friends who have children in the public school system and I believe that's where God spoke for their family, and I think that's wonderful and I know their children, their children love Jesus, and I think that's wonderful and I know their children.
• 15:40
  Audrey McCracken: Their children love Jesus, their children love the Lord, and they've done a great job of teaching their children how to love Jesus and to maneuver in the world.
• 15:43
  Audrey McCracken: Parents who will tell you out and out that it is always God's will to homeschool, and I so don't believe that.
• 15:52
  Audrey McCracken: I believe homeschooling is a calling.
• 15:54
  Audrey McCracken: He has a unique plan and puzzle for every family and we have to figure out.
• 15:59
  Audrey McCracken: What are you calling us to do, lord?
• 16:02
  Audrey McCracken: And it's not always what people around you are doing, and we have to be able to have ears to hear what is God saying and have to have the courage to step up and do it.
• 16:14
  Audrey McCracken: And for you, that might be sending your kids to public school when it's everybody around you homeschools, or might be, like me, deciding to homeschool when everybody around you is in public school and they're doing fine, they're doing great.
• 16:29
  Audrey McCracken: But the point is, what is God calling you to do?
• 16:32
  Audrey McCracken: What is God calling us to do as a family?
• 16:35
  Audrey McCracken: And that applies in so many different areas.
• 16:38
  Audrey McCracken: We are in the world, we're not of the world, and when I remember, as a young mom, learning how to homeschool, trying to figure out you know how, does God want me to do this?
• 16:52
  Audrey McCracken: One of the things that he impressed on my heart is I want you to do this by faith.
• 16:58
  Audrey McCracken: I don't want you to homeschool out of fear, and I have met families who I believe that fear is their driving force to homeschool, because they're afraid of the world, they're afraid to let their kids out there, and so they're going to homeschool them to keep them from all the bad things.
• 17:16
  Audrey McCracken: But see, that keeps us in that mentality that you know we are less than, or we are weaker than the world.
• 17:25
  Audrey McCracken: And it's not true.
• 17:26
  Audrey McCracken: I homeschooled my children out of faith.
• 17:29
  Audrey McCracken: That you know, at home I will be able to disciple them, I'll be able to teach them, I'll be able to pour into them so that I can release them into the world.
• 17:38
  Audrey McCracken: And they're prepared, they're ready.
• 17:40
  Audrey McCracken: You know, we're not afraid of the world.
• 17:42
  Audrey McCracken: We're in the world.
• 17:43
  Audrey McCracken: We're not of the world, but we're not afraid of the world, because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.
• 17:49
  Audrey McCracken: And so I saw possibilities and I'm so glad that I took that road.
• 17:56
  Audrey McCracken: You know, I know it was the Lord.
• 17:58
  Audrey McCracken: I know where he guides, he provides, he always gives us enough grace, and he always did.
• 18:05
  Audrey McCracken: And now you know, and I will tell you, another big transition was when they decided to go to high school, because we had always told them, you know, we want you to make decisions.
• 18:17
  Audrey McCracken: We wanted to teach them early to start making decisions for their life, because we didn't want to be the ones always making the major decisions, and so, you know, appropriate decisions.
• 18:27
  Audrey McCracken: We tried to give them an opportunity to say what they wanted to do, and one of the biggest for all three of them was do you want to go to high school or do you want to continue to homeschool?
• 18:40
  Audrey McCracken: And they had a.
• 18:41
  Audrey McCracken: And I understand we have a unique situation.
• 18:44
  Audrey McCracken: My husband is now the principal at our local high school, where they attend, and all three of them decided at our local high school where they attend, and all three of them decided to go to high school.
• 18:53
  Audrey McCracken: Now I can't tell you I love that decision.
• 18:55
  Audrey McCracken: There's a part of me that was just like high school would be so cool to homeschool.
• 19:00
  Audrey McCracken: Because you know, now you're old enough to have big discussions and conversations.
• 19:05
  Audrey McCracken: And you know and I was just I had all these books that I would love to have read with them in high school.
• 19:12
  Audrey McCracken: But they made the decision to go to public school and I see them growing and flourishing there and it brings peace to my heart and it reminds me.
• 19:23
  Audrey McCracken: You know, I had them for the little years and now they are with their father in public school and they are seeing things through a new light.
• 19:32
  Audrey McCracken: They're seeing different things and we can't control it.
• 19:37
  Audrey McCracken: We just have to do our part.
• 19:41
  Audrey McCracken: We have to do what God's asked us to do and we have to release them and trust Him that he is speaking to them, that he is working in their hearts, that he's working in our hearts and that he knows what's best.
• 19:53
  Audrey McCracken: That's why I believe that homeschooling is calling and I'm very thankful for the opportunity, for the grace, to homeschool my children.
• 20:08
  Audrey McCracken: It was a wonderful time and I was able to put things in their hearts and I was able to spend that time with them and build relationship with them.
• 20:19
  Audrey McCracken: That has given me a voice.
• 20:21
  Audrey McCracken: You know, I have a voice into their hearts when they have important decisions to make.
• 20:26
  Audrey McCracken: Now they come to me not to say what should I do.
• 20:30
  Audrey McCracken: But, you know, can you pray with me?
• 20:33
  Audrey McCracken: And, yeah, sometimes they'll ask me what should you, what should I do in this situation?
• 20:37
  Audrey McCracken: But usually my answer is I can't tell you that.
• 20:40
  Audrey McCracken: But I can pray with you that God would show you the right path to take.
• 20:46
  Audrey McCracken: But they know that me and their dad want what's best for them and that both of us are willing to submit and say, not our will, but what the Lord wants.
• 20:59
  Audrey McCracken: And because he did that when they were young and I've had to do that when they've gone, when they've entered high school.
• 21:07
  Audrey McCracken: And you know, it's not about us, it's not about how great we are or how wonderful of parents we are.
• 21:13
  Audrey McCracken: It's about how good our God is, how good the Father is, and I hope that this has been encouraging for you.
• 21:22
  Audrey McCracken: You know, and, like I said, I think it applies in many, many areas.
• 21:25
  Audrey McCracken: It's not, you know, I want my way, I want to do it my way.
• 21:29
  Audrey McCracken: It's Lord, what do you have for us as a couple, as a husband and wife, as a family?
• 21:36
  Audrey McCracken: You know, show us your plan so we can walk in it, and I believe that is a prayer that he delights in answering.
• 21:47
  Audrey McCracken: I want to remind you that you can still purchase my book Covered in Prayer 31 Prayers to Cover you and your Children in God's Grace.
• 21:55
  Audrey McCracken: You can find that on Amazon and I'll put the link in the show notes, and I'm working on some new things.
• 22:01
  Audrey McCracken: So this new year I'm excited about, you know, some new projects, that I'm working on some books and other things, and in the coming weeks I hope to be able to release some of those things and share some more of those things with you.
• 22:15
  Audrey McCracken: And I just want to say thank you.
• 22:17
  Audrey McCracken: I really appreciate you coming each week and listening.
• 22:20
  Audrey McCracken: You can probably tell I have a little cold today, but that's okay.
• 22:23
  Audrey McCracken: We'll press through and keep us in your prayers because we're just like you.
• 22:30
  Audrey McCracken: We're trying to find the Father's will and grow in grace, and I want to pray for you before I let you go today, father.
• 22:37
  Audrey McCracken: I pray for these precious women who just want to hear from you, who just want to be obedient and do what you've put them here on earth to do.
• 22:46
  Audrey McCracken: And I ask you, father, to shine your light on us that we could walk in the truth.
• 22:50
  Audrey McCracken: And I pray, god, that you would work in our hearts, that we would be more and more like Jesus.
• 22:55
  Audrey McCracken: And God, I ask you to give us ears to hear that Lord, when you're calling us in a particular direction, that we would be sensitive to that.
• 23:05
  Audrey McCracken: And, lord, we just thank you.
• 23:08
  Audrey McCracken: We thank you that your grace is more than enough.
• 23:10
  Audrey McCracken: In Jesus name, amen.