Part One of a Series by Kathy Lowers, Founder of Considering Homeschooling

If you are like me, you are in recovery mode from this painful election.  To see voters, including so many Christians, not care that their candidate intends to "spread the wealth around" or more likely they could not recognize communist rhetoric when it was slapping them in the face... is disturbing. 

To watch voters not blink an eye that their guy had his career launched by someone who had bombed the Pentagon or maybe they just were not tuned in to the tiny sliver of the media that actually reported this... is disconcerting. 

To observe that half the nation did not hold it against their candidate that he is so pro-abortion that he is off the charts or perhaps they got so excited about "making history" they forgot that murder is wrong... is disheartening.

Further, to see that these voters did not mind that their candidate opposed efforts to stop the perversion of marriage by homosexuals or very likely they believed his rhetoric about being Christian... is alarming. 

And, to realize that all these voters did not seem bothered in the least that he was endorsed by a top Hamas leader, Fidel Castro, and other horrifying figures or obviously his Hollywood endorsements were all that mattered... invites commentary.

As for those of us who have been given children by God at this time in history, it also invites serious thought on how we can raise up Christian voters who understand, with unshakable conviction, what type of economic system and moral laws are in line with God's Word.  We need to train our children to screen candidates for biblical values rather than be swayed by the utopian visions of man-made messiahs. 

This election highlighted that the view held by many American churches that evangelism alone will transform the culture is not true.  The people in the churches, including some self-appointed leaders in Christianity, are messed up voters, too.  Masses of Christians voted for the most pro-abortion, most pro-homosexual, most openly socialist president in U.S. history.  What in the rearing of these voters, in the discipleship of these Christians, guided them to vote for image, race or getting something free from the government over biblical values?

The fact is, there is something seriously wrong in the upbringing of Christian children, as quite a lot of them grow up to vote like pagans.  Could it be that the two main sources of training for most American Christian minds are the public schools and the media -- instead of their parents and the church?  Those families that remove the grip of the media from their children's lives by cutting out TV are doing a noble deed.  But getting rid of the TV, as hard as that is for the average Joe Christian, is still a lot easier than giving up his dependence on freebie government schools.

Having many kids and making sure they have a rigorous Christian education is a tough sacrifice.  Yet if Christians had (or adopted) more children and gave them a solid Christian upbringing, the result of future elections would be much different than what we just encountered.  I know most Christians either cannot afford Christian school or they live in an area devoid of solid Christian schools.  That leaves homeschooling as the most viable option in Christian education for families who can create a safe, loving, educational, Christ-centered home.  But most people do not homeschool because, quite frankly, it is the uphill path.  So why take that path?  We believe, based on the fruit we see in others' lives, that homeschooling in the Lord will give us a better chance at having children who will be loyal to Jesus.

Taking the public school route is free and easy -- at least in the short run.  But, you get what you pay for, so to speak, and the jails, abortion clinics, and political positions in our communities are filled with the natural consequences of secular schooling.

Weekday mornings are seen as time of deliverance for the moms in most neighborhoods around the country.  You can almost hear a collective sigh of relief at 8am or so, as the state takes on the expense and the bother of the children all day.  But at the same time in the morning as most mothers are being relieved of their responsibility, homeschoolers like me are just rolling up our sleeves and getting to work at educating our children.  With four young kids and two toddlers in my house, that is an energetic undertaking.  The typical mom and I are worlds apart regarding what happens in our day during those next six hours (or longer, if they sign up for after school care).  I don't get to go to the mall, spa, watch TV or make money at a job.  Homeschooling six children on a shoe string is a juggling act -- a really interesting, fun challenge most of the time, but a struggle at other times.  But, I know I am sowing towards the future -- that is what keeps me optimistic, keeps me chugging on despite whatever roadblocks Satan throws in family's way.  We know God would have us bring up the children this way. What God has ordained, what His will is, no man or circumstance can stop.

I was convinced to homeschool before I ever even met my husband.  And, he was sure he would homeschool before he ever met me.  Active in the pro-life movement, I met all these wonderful children and teens who were homeschooled.  They were polite, sincerely pro-life, and really seemed to know the Lord.  Nothing wins over people to home education more effectively than the living testimony of well-raised homeschooled children.

I cannot tell you how many dear Christian friends I have known over the years in pro-family grass roots activism who have been shipwrecked from letting their children learn from the world's schools.  To picket Planned Parenthood for years and then to discover their own children frequent the place, is so devastating for them.   The image became clear to me -- did I want a child who one day would try to save babies as a teen or a teen who would be a client of Planned Parenthood?  I know that homeschooled children sometimes choose the world too, but statistically, it is much less than the public school children.  And that makes sense -- the teacher that spends the most time with the student... well, Jesus said it best:  "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." (Luke 6:40)

Whoever schools your children sets the stage for what your kids do when they get old enough to "dis" you.  And whoever schools your children controls their vote because they teach them in what manner to think.  Trying to undo the damage every night, like some Christians think they can, is nearly impossible.  There is too much homework to do and too many activities to establish yourself as a force greater than the teachers in their life.  Parents with children in any school really are giving up much more sway with their youngsters than they realize.  Your nights and weekends with your child cannot counteract what they have learned from secular sources the bulk of the week.

I know so many beautiful Christian sisters who tell me they pray for their children who are enrolled in public school, that they tell them to witness to their friends, etc.  But, ultimately, as the Lord says, the student is not above his teacher.  The child was placed by the parent under the authority of those teachers, to get wisdom.  But the false wisdom of the world is in direct conflict with the real wisdom of God.  The child, in his heart, is forced to make the ultimate choice between the false gods and way of thinking of his or her teachers and the true God and way of thinking of his or her parents.

I believe that if you are a God-fearing parent who can create a safe, loving learning environment for children in your home, that you should be considering homeschooling right now if you aren't already homeschooling.  Homeschooling your child is not a guarantee they will not forsake the values you have instilled, but they have a fighting chance at comprehending the significance of having godly leaders, not to mention they will have a better chance at receiving and following the Lord Jesus.

While this election shocked me, I have to say I have more hope than I have ever had for our country, in part because of what God is doing through homeschooling.  Look at how homeschoolers, still a small fraction of total students in this country, have already been recognized as a political force in several notable local and state elections.  Just imagine if a thousands, tens of thousands, millions more Christian families homeschooled.

The thought I will leave you with is this... whoever schools the children impacts the future.  If every Christian child received a sold Christian education, there would be real change in the course this country is taking.  And since the United States is still the most powerful country in the world, whoever schools the children ultimately influences a lot in the world, too.  Sacrificing to homeschool holds such hope in these trying times... consider making that sacrifice.

It is our privilege as homeschooling parents to instill into our children the true meaning of holidays and celebrations.  While I take great joy in seeing the faces of our children light up at the sight of fireworks, I also want them to recognize the names Hancock and Adams -- not as movies and TV shows -- but as individuals of extraordinary courage who stood up against tyranny, who pledged their own lives, fortunes, and honor so that others might live free.

For many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence would forfeit their lives and fortunes, but their honor will be secure as long as free men breath on this earth.

I can think of no better way to celebrate and acknowledge the 4th of July than with the recitation and discussion of the Declaration of Independence:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

From Considering Homeschooling.