A few weeks ago my husband and I were faced with a huge dilemma: Where to send our 6 year old son to school. He had attended a Christian church school in Buffalo, New York, the previous year, but during the summer we moved, and this school was no longer an option. In our minds, we had already decided on sending him to a Christian school about 30 minutes from our new home, but when we went in for an interview, just 5 days before school was to start, we were NOT impressed. Besides, it would have meant a 45-60 minute bus ride for him each morning AND each evening.

After a lot of prayer, we both concluded that this school was NOT the one for our son. So there we were, just 5 days before the schools opened for the new year, and we had no idea where our son would go. We interviewed a new Christian school in our district, but were disappointed to learn that they only offered 1/2 day First grade. As our son had been in a full day Kindergarten program the previous year, we didn’t feel comfortable putting him into a half-day program. We felt very strongly that our son should be in a Christian school, but there didn’t appear to be any options. So back to square one, we prayed some more.

During this time, God was working hard on me, trying to convince me that I should home school. I didn’t want to, and I had plenty of “good” excuses not to. For one, I work 2 days a week. Secondly, we also have a 4 year old who needs lots of attention and can be very distracting. Thirdly, my husband is a public school teacher, and has always been firmly against home schooling. And finally, I just plain didn’t want to. But as I spent time in soul searching and prayer, God began to help me remember several Spiritual Markers that had taken place earlier in my life, all of which, when looked at together, pointed out clearly that God had been preparing me for home schooling my children. I became so convicted of this, that I finally spoke to my husband about it. To my surprise, he shared with me that he had also come to the conviction that our son should be home schooled. As we talked it through, we both became convicted that if it was really God’s will, the problem of our younger son would work itself out.

But this still left the problem of me working 2 days a week. We decided to take this one to the Lord too. We prayed that we would find someone who could watch the boys two days a week, who would be willing to supervise some school work. We then had announcements given in the local churches, but no one came forward. So we got on the phone. The third call was to a lady from Trinidad. Her name had been suggested to us from one of the Elders of one of the local churches. He said she was a certified teacher, but was unlicensed in Canada. I was absolutely overjoyed to learn that she had been praying for something like this to arise! We had our tutor, and more than that, she was an experienced teacher!

But, as often happens when you receive glorious signs of God’s outstanding love and care for His children, Satan came along and through a stick in the wheel. The morning of day 1, the teacher told me that her husband didn’t like her having to drive that far (30 minutes), and since they only had one car, it made it very difficult for him to get to work. “In other words,” she said, “This isn’t going to work!”

We were floored. But, fortunately we recognized this for exactly what it was: An evil act of Satan to keep us from doing God’s will. We took it back to God. I told Him that I firmly believed we were doing His will by home schooling our son. I told Him that I wasn’t going to let Satan discourage me. I wasn’t going to give up. And I asked Him for a miracle. Two days later, the teacher called me to say that if I could bring the children to a church near her home, she could continue to teacher my boys. What an answer to prayer. That meant, of course, an extra 45 minutes of driving for me to get to work, but it didn’t matter. It was a small price to pay!

And now, several weeks later, I am happy to report that God continues to bless our little home school. We serve an awesome God, who not only loves us, but empowers us to do His will, and blesses us for our efforts.”

Lyn Chaffart October 28, 1999