Winter

The Bradford Family

Members of Sand Springs CHEF

Homeschooling? I had never heard of homeschooling until my husband mentioned it in the spring of 1993. Our daughter was in kindergarten and our 1 yr. old son stayed at home with me. He informed me of his interest and desire to homeschool our daughter starting in the fall, which would put her in the first grade.

I could see the Lord was at work in my husbands life. Malachi 4:6 "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers;" My first thoughts were: not me, I can't, I don't know how, I am not capable, equipped, that's not my gift, I can't teach, I don't have the character traits a teacher would have!!!!!!!! As you can tell I was overwhelmed!!! I was not afraid of knowing the subjects, but my ability to teach them to someone else (my child).

Public Schools, I thought, could do a better job; the teachers had degrees and were trained to be imaginative, creative and knew how to communicate better. My discerning and wise husband sensed this fear of the unknown in me and suggested we allow our daughter to go on to first grade while we investigated this homeschool idea. 1 Peter 3:7 "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."

Some friends of ours homeschooled and invited us over and showed us their curriculum. I was really impressed with the orderly way it was layed out, using the bible to teach most of their subjects. It even had the lessons planned out for you. God knew my need for order and this curriculum was very direct and came with instructions. I left their house with a headache from information overload and still feeling a little overwhelmed.

The Lord began revealing His will to me as I yielded my will to Him. He showed me all these scriptures:

Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all things through christ who gives me strength."
Luke 18:27 "Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight."

God also showed me that our children's education and training is our responsibility, and that parents know their children better than anyone else.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 " These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
Proverbs 22:6 "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."
Psalms 78:4-8 "We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generationwould know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their forefathers-a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him."

We started homeschooling the fall of 1994. As we began our journey in obedience to the Lord, we received alot of negative comments from family, friends, and even our church. They questioned our ability and motives and were generally unsure if we could educate our own children. Especially my family; they didn't think I could teach at all, because they thought I didn't have the patience, character or personality for it (I was labeled ADHD as a child, they still saw me that way).

Homeschooling has been our biggest witness and testimony. Our family has seen first hand that God can take two ordinary parents and use them in an extraordinary way. It is not by our strength that our children are where they are today, but all glory and honor we give to the Lord!!!!!!

We are still homeschooling and every year God's mercy and grace is renewed, he keeps us humble through all the challenges that we have. God is teaching us through our children. He has taught us to cherish them, receive them as a blessing from the Lord. They are precious gifts to which we can pass on a Godly heritage.

The Lord has brought us to the point where we even had a vasectomy reversal to have more children and have been blessed with a third child and look forward to having more. Still growing in Him!

Love in Christ!

Mr. and Mrs. Bradford

At Bradford Christian Academy, school starts at a very young age!