Where I’m Supposed to Be

I’m going to be completely honest here and tell you that I never saw myself as a homeschooler. I did not know what homeschooling was until my oldest son was two years old. I had no idea that you could choose not to send your child to school. I had always envisioned myself as a high powered professional woman, working full time and seeing my kids on the weekends and in the evenings. In fact I was in law school when I made the decision to homeschool my boys.

Everyone always told me that I made a good choice in going to law school, that I would be successful and make a lot of money. The funny thing was that in the process of earning that degree my definition of success began to change. I started to realize that making a lot of money wasn’t really what I wanted to do. My heart was turning more and more towards my family.

When the bottom fell out of my family, my desire to homeschool grew stronger. No one around me could understand how or why I would want to homeschool as a single parent. Many people kept telling me that my law degree would be the best thing for my boys, that I could make enough money to send them to private school so I wouldn’t have to homeschool.

They didn’t get it. Homeschooling wasn’t a choice that I was making because there were no suitable alternatives. I made the choice to homeschool because it’s what I was called to do. It’s a little ironic that I had to becoming a single mom and endure the pain and devastation of a divorce to see the value in the way that God defines a family. The more my marriage crumbled, the more I realized the importance of a mother’s role in the home with her children.

I still get comments and criticism from people that feel that I have made the wrong choice. They tell me that I need to put the boys in school and work a full-time job. They tell me that I am wasting my education by choosing to be home with my boys. My family even tried to convince me that I’d lost sight of my dreams. They just don’t get it.

I have not lost sight of my dream, I have simply aligned my dream with the plan that God has for my life. Only God can take a selfish and ambitious woman and turn her heart from a career towards her home. Only God can use a broken home and unhealthy marriage to teach the true value of family. God showed me that my purpose was not to make lots of money as a high powered attorney.

The most successful thing that I can do as a parent is to teach my children to love, honor and respect God. My purpose is to love my children and spend my time pouring into their hearts and minds all the things that God has shown me. Homeschooling as a single parent is not easy. There are many obstacles to overcome and trials to go through. But I firmly believe that as a single homeschooling mom I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

LaToya is a single, homeschooling mom of two bouncing boys. She lives for the quiet moments of the day which are few and far between with two rambunctious young men running around the house. She strives each day to life fully for God and although she often falls short she is determined to stay the course. She wants to encourage women to follow God’s direction for their lives no matter the circumstances. You can keep up with LaToya on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.