Homeschooling Success!

For homeschool, we're doing a review of the things I have taught my children over the year.  In all honesty, I have been feeling VERY frustrated over the last few weeks wishing they had retained more than they had.  Even though they are all ahead of their grade levels for their respective ages, I couldn't believe how many questions they were missing!!  I wondered and asked God if I was doing the right thing for their education… or if I should quit homeschooling them...

On Sunday night, I checked on my children before I went to bed.  When I looked at the bottom bunk,  there lay Jackson and Jordan with their heads pressed together watching something on Jackson's Kindlefire.  Everyone else was asleep.  I peeked at what was on their screen; they were watching a video on the importance of being chaste and clean in their lives. They looked up at me and told me all the other uplifting videos they had been watching from the Mormon channel of videos.
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages

The next morning, Jackson requested to give the Family Home Evening lesson that very night.  We arrived home too late from Memorial Day festivities, so we planned on listening to his lesson the following night.

We have been a part of dinner parties or had dinner parties at our house for the past 4 nights.  After last night's gathering, we were all exhausted.  Abe would be leaving at 3:30 the following morning for another trip, and he still needed to pack and wash clothes.  We were feeling like an official Family Home Evening would need to be pushed to the back burner again.  However, Jackson begged to hold Family Home Evening, so he and Jordan could share their message with us.

It was 9:30 at night.  I felt foolish for turning down Jackson and Jordan's requests to teach a lesson to the family.  We all "let go" of the unimportant things and sat on the couch as a family.

Jordan and Jackson shared the following videos with us:

"Leave the Party"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n1RnsLbvE4

"Dare to Stand Alone"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_92mKlQOlk

After each video, they asked all of us how the videos made us feel and what we learned from them.  Then they proceeded to explain the importance of standing for what's right in every aspect of our lives.

I was in awe at the maturity of my 8 and 12-year old sons as they spoke about the gospel.  As I sat there my heart was deeply touched… then it hit me!  I was not failing them!  These boys understood the gospel on a deeper level than I ever did at their age.  Yes!  I greatly value their scholastic education; but to me, their spiritual education takes precedence over all else.

We spend LOTS of time every morning talking about and reading the teachings of Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful the Lord showed me (at the persistence of my children) that I was not failing them at what mattered most.  Their testimonies, love, and passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ matter to me WAY more than a few missed math questions.  I thank God for inspiring my young boys' hearts to share their spiritual maturity with our family.  Their lesson encouraged my heart greatly!

That encouragement was a miracle to me.  God answered my prayer by helping me to see the success of their spiritual education.  The thought came to me that I should work harder to teach math and their other subjects with the same Spirit of God that's present as I teach HIS gospel…

I believe the Spirit filled Jordan's heart from teaching and bearing testimony to the family, and a miracle took place within his heart as well:

Last night, I found him sleeping soundly on the floor between all the children's bedrooms.  He's getting quite heavy, so I dragged him back into his room.  This morning I asked 8-year old Jordan if he even knew he was sleeping in the hallway.

He knew he had been.  He said, "I wanted to make sure that Jackson, Tyson, Jayden, Mariah, and Juliana were safe.  I just wanted to be nicer to everybody."

I'm grateful for the tender moments when God gives us a glimpse of the fruits of our labors.