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Fear often holds us back in our homeschooling journey and robs us of the joy God has in store for us as we teach our children and create deeper relationships with them. I have yet to meet a homeschooler who hasn’t struggled with some of these fears — myself included. I find that on a daily basis, I need to be on alert for thoughts and input that spark anxiety and take my attention away from the truth that God equips those He has called to fulfill His purpose — homeschooling included.

10ThingsToLetGoOf-Fear

Homeschooling fear is often cleverly disguised as:

  • Insecurity
  • Concern & Worry
  • What if?

Common homeschooling fears that attack our faith:

  • I’m not qualified or up to the task of homeschooling, what if I can’t teach them everything?
  • I’m not doing “enough” for my children, what if they miss out?
  • I’m not like “that” mom… what if I never get it together?
  • I’m not pleasing the children, what if they resent me?
  • I’m not pleasing my husband, what if I can’t do it all?
  • Nobody has faith in me, what if I’m not meeting the expectations of others?
  • What if… I fail?

Even a NextGen Homeschooler like myself struggles with these fears. I had personally been homeschooled for two years and enjoyed it, so I thought I would feel more equipped and “ready” to homeschool when the time came than parents who’d never experienced homeschooling. But I was wrong. When faced with the decision of what to do when our eldest daughter reached school age, I began to battle with these same homeschooling fears and concerns.

The worst part is that I let those fears hold me back for several years — even as I watched two of my younger sisters confidently take the homeschooling plunge themselves. Our eldest two daughters attended a private preschool/kindergarten, then a Catholic elementary school for their first elementary years. Although they did well academically, I knew inside that I was running away from God’s calling for my family.

However, God began working in my life to grow my faith in other ways. Through a few difficult, trust-building life experiences, I finally decided to replace the fear of homeschooling with faith. I decided to trust God with His calling and put all my faith in Him to help me do what He was leading us to do.

Deciding to homeschool was just the first step: Once we were already homeschooling, many other fears on that list continued to weigh me down. A couple of years into our homeschooling journey, I began to struggle with physical anxiety as well. However God was faithful to help me heal physically, emotionally and spiritually, and to help my family navigate through a very challenging time of homeschooling, strengthening our faith in the process.

One of the key verses that helped me replace those homeschooling fears with faith is:

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. … After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” –1 Peter 5:6-7, 10

Homeschooling with faith, not fear, requires a renewing of your mind — using God’s word to fight against the enemy’s attempts to distract you from God’s calling. I think we can all agree that homeschooling isn’t easy, but it’s especially challenging when we are weighed down by another layer of lies from the enemy to defeat us in our pursuit of God’s will for our family.

Here are a few passages of scripture that I have memorized to directly combat common fear-based lies that hold us back in our homeschooling journey:

HomeschoolingInFaith

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As 1 Peter 5:8-9 reminds us, we need to be on alert for the enemy’s attacks — and fear is a very sneaky, relentless predator. I’ve come a long way in my trust relationship with the Lord since the time I was afraid to homeschool and through my struggles with physical anxiety, however I still work on renewing my mind daily to stay on guard for fear-based distractions.

It’s my prayer that you will allow yourself to fully trust your Heavenly Father to carry you, strengthen you, equip you, lead you, and most important, LOVE YOU throughout the ups and downs of your homeschooling journey!

Do you struggle with any of these fear-based lies that weaken your confidence about homeschooling? Where do you turn for support when you’re feeling anxious and worried as a homeschooling mom? What breakthroughs of faith have you experienced on your journey? This post completes NextGen Homeschool’s Ten Things to Let Go of This Year series. We invite you to join the conversation! Find the complete series here.

2 Replies to “Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Fear”

  1. Wow..wow..wow…God is so awesome…He revealed this site to me and I 2 love to get more connected.

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