Several months ago, a friend sent me this quote from the late President Reagan:

“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.“

I really liked it and yet, it really bothered me. A lot. I couldn’t get it out of my head – it just kept nagging me. But why? I can be a little slow sometimes, but eventually, I realized, God was trying to teach me something.

My grandkids and I began our home education adventure late in the game, so to speak. First, my granddaughter asked to be homeschooled in March of her 7th grade year of public schooling. I knew it was the right thing to do and a week later, we began. She needed to be home where she could excel, but, as I wrote in an earlier post, she also desperately needed time – a full year to be exact – to decompress from the stresses she brought home with her. Once she was ready, she went from a struggling student who was barely pulling a ”C” in most of her classes, to one who will graduate this year with a 4.0 (so far) GPA.

The next year, in October, my grandson also in 7th grade at the time, asked to come home and try homeschooling. He is now a high school junior and doing great! His interests and style of learning are as different as night and day from his sister, but being home educated has afforded him to learn his way and pursue his interests. I know in my heart of hearts, had he stayed in public school, he would have sunk.

Before we began home educating, I prayerfully asked God to show me His priorities. His answer was very clear: “Teach them about Me and My Word, be a Godly example and trust Me to lead you as you continue.”

I confess I get side-tracked sometimes, putting my agenda before His. But,He is faithful and patient and gets me back on His track. Because of his faithfulness, grace & mercy, both kids have grown tremendously in their knowledge of Him, walk closely with Him, are learning the academics they need and valuable real-life lessons. Also, they are learning how to learn and how to think for themselves.

What does our home education look like? Well, it changes each year as the kids’ needs change, my understanding of them grows, and most importantly, as God leads. Most of our learning is relaxed, more so with each passing year, taking place in our family room, sitting on couches, often in our pj’s.

We use the TV a lot watching documentaries or movies about various subjects and time periods and spend much time discussing what we’re learning. For them discussion is a much more effective way of learning than writing a report and it takes place throughout the day.

Our home isn’t small, but it’s not big either. Our kitchen is small and the table is tiny. No way could it hold all my homeschool stuff. Nonetheless, we had to work with what we’ve got and by default, my dining room table became my workspace. The table was literally covered with my computer, mountains of paper, and mountains of books. No need for a tablecloth – you couldn’t have seen it; no room for a centerpiece. Just piles and stacks everywhere including every available spot around the perimeter of the room – stacks and stacks and more stacks of papers and books.

Eating at the table? Forget it – clearing the space was more than I could cope with! So dinnertime happened in the family room, plates on laps, slowing evolving into everyone eating at different times, usually with the TV on. I hated it, absolutely hated it.

And then… my moment of insight finally arrived. Remember that quote from President Reagan and how it nagged at me? I finally knew why. God was calling me to “reclaim” the dining room, but more specifically, the dining room table for His purposes.

“But Lord, I am using it for Your purposes,” I thought. “I’m using it for our homeschool needs.” But, God wanted me to move the mountains, so we could once again gather as a family around the table.

“But where Lord? Where in the world can I put the mountains of stuff claiming the table? I can’t put it on the floor, because there’s no more room. What do you want me to do? What you’re asking is impossible? “

Ha…I’m sure he must have smiled at that, because He’s a God who delights in doing the ”impossible!” As I waited on Him and followed his leading, the impossible was accomplished – the dining room table and the room were reclaimed! Blessings have flowed abundantly as we have shared meals around the table .

His purpose for my dining room table included change through real-life education which is taking place in a powerful way. Conversation naturally flows as we talk about politics, current events, history, financial issues.

Many evenings, long after the food is gone, we  find ourselves sitting and talking for hours. Precious life lessons are being learned as the kids trust us with the deep things of their hearts: questions, problems, concerns, dreams.

The best lesson of all is the one God is teaching. As we bring the things weighing on our hearts before the Throne of Grace we are growing in our knowledge and understanding of the great and mighty God we serve – One who intimately knows and personally cares for and loves us.

His purpose for my dining room table was an immeasurable and invaluable gift to each of us. He loves to do the “impossible”.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Life Lessons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.