Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Honestly, I enjoyed being homeschooled. I liked hanging out with my family, working at my own pace, and being taught by my mom. I enjoyed going to homeschool groups, meeting other homeschoolers, and staying in touch with them. But maybe you don’t enjoy being homeschooled like I did.
Unfortunately, insecurity is just a part of life. There’s no way to avoid it or delay it. We can’t expect it to go away when we get older, and we can’t better ourselves so that we no longer experience it. It’s simply a consequence of the Fall when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. But there is something significant that you should know about insecurity that you've probably never heard before.
Honestly, I could spend hours alone, enjoying the peace and quiet. Interacting with others can be enjoyable, but it’s also exhausting. Thankfully, I can escape to my room or my car or my dorm room when I need a break from people. I can be completely alone there. But honestly, being utterly alone can quickly become utterly dangerous.
Don’t get me wrong—I love my phone. I love that I can text, make calls, go online, make notes, and set timers using one portable device. It can be used for great things, from tithing online to staying in touch with missionaries. But when we use our phones rather than pay attention to the people we're with, we communicate that we care more about our phones (and ourselves) than them.
But the truth is that the shocked, unable-to-respond, shunning Christians are probably hiding something from you, too. Even though their struggles are as real as yours, it’s unlikely that they’ll share them. As I talked about in Part 1, being authentic is hard. It’s easiest to hide because other Christians might judge us or reject us if we’re honest.
But there's more to Halloween than gooey candy and cute costumes. There's also more to Halloween than evil witches and creepy goblins. This holiday requires us to determine—and discuss—our convictions.
I saw pain in the eyes of the 20-something single woman taking pictures on her phone. I saw it in the eyes of the young mom holding a curly-haired toddler. I saw it in the eyes of the older man, looking off into the distance. The passengers on that tractor ride may have been noticeably hurting—but often the hurt in people’s lives isn’t so noticeable.
I drove away from our church pondering the reality that I may never see him or his family again. I can’t remember specific events that impacted me so much. I just know that he and his family have impacted my church and desired to help us grow closer to God. He wasn’t supposed to leave so soon. He was supposed to stay at my church forever…right?
Since coming to college, I’ve become acquainted with eating in the cafeteria, having six different teachers each semester, and taking very stressful tests called “finals." But I realize that the non-homeschool world can feel very different than the homeschool world. I wanted to share the three main fears of homeschoolers in this post so that we can recognize—and own up to—our "homeschool-ness," so here they are.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 