What Does It Take To Get You To Listen?

"Mom, they're gonna beat me up tomorrow on the playground."

"Who is gonna beat you up tomorrow?"

"Those boys. All five of them. They said so."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing Mom. They just don't like me."

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Do you relate to the above conversation? I can remember having this conversation with my son time and time again from 3rd grade through the 5th grade. Every single day it was the same thing.

I remember so many trips to the principal's office to discuss this same kind of situation. You would have thought that by now I would have listened to the still small voice in the back of my head telling me it was time to leave the workforce and come home and take care of my family. But I didn't. I had a solution that would still allow me to work and the kids would be safe.

I blamed the public schools for allowing such horrible behavior to go on. Little did I know that when I moved the kids to a private school, that Robert would have an even harder time than before, but because I got a job there and I would be close, I figured there would be no problems and everything would work out okay.

Can I just say that when we do not heed God's calling for our lives, He will put things in our path that will either make us into what He wants or it will break us.

When Robert entered the 6th grade at the private school, he was so excited. It was a fresh start to make new friends and really get into his studies. Neither one of us knew that this would be the year that would break both of us physically and mentally.

The first part of the year was great, but then things started to change. The kids that were in his class had also transferred from the public middle school so many of them had behavior problems. This time instead of trying to pick fights with him, they constantly made fun of him. He began to get depressed and wouldn't tell me what was going on. His schoolwork got worse, he had detention at least twice a week. I was at the end of my rope. All the teachers tried to reassure me that everything was fine, but in the back of my mind, I had this gnawing going on that all was not fine.

The last straw came the day my son attended a school function. He had gotten sunburned and all the boys in his class began to slap him on his sunburn to see how much he could take before he began to cry. When he came and told me about this I was furious. God spoke to my heart again for about the fifteenth time in the last few months about staying home and homeschooling and this time I was all ears.

My son finished his 6th grade school year defeated and depressed, but when school started for the new year, our first homeschool year, I could see a glimmer of hope in his eyes, one that wanted so badly to learn, but scared of failure. I am happy to say that he has finished two years of homeschooling and is doing so much better. He loves to learn.

It hasn't always been easy. I have wanted to give up myself on the hard days--the days when I didn't understand how to explain something to him. But I have to trust in the fact that God has called me to this ministry--a ministry in caring for my family, nurturing and loving them. He has called me to help my husband train them and raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Both of our children are now thriving and learning machines! I am so thankful that I finally listened to God. The sad thing is; I think about all the heartache I could have saved my son from had I listened to God as he entered first grade. It is important to always listen and do what God is calling you to do. Even if you do not think it is possible, wtih God all things are possible to those who believe.