Relieved to not be homeschooling

After 6 years of homeschooling, I must admit, that it was hard to turn another direction.  I loved having the say in what happened with my kids, what they learned, who was able to be an influence on them.  However in the last year or two before I gave it up, I started having second thoughts.  My kids were not testing well.  I know that isn't everything, but it does show some things.  My kids might not be learning everything they need to know to succeed in this world.  They were only able to learn as much as I learned myself.  I consider myself educated enough to be able to teach my kids to do standard education.  After all, I got all A's through high school and most of college...  However, the niggling little thoughts wouldn't go away.  I'd hear about things my nieces and nephews or other kids were doing and it would sit heavy in the back of my head.  I was uncomfortable.  One of my daughters was draining me.  We spent our day doing the main subjects and ceased to be able to do any extras.  I couldn't do the fun stuff with my little ones to make their school fun either.  We were too far to take on sports or music, and the kids didn't have any friends.

Turn around one year later and my kids are in a private school.  They each are learning an instrument.  My youngest daughter has taken off with her reading by leaps and bounds.  The older girls are doing math that I started doing in high school in fifth and seventh grade.  They each have a sport they participate in.  The friends category is still on the short end, but overall I am relieved.  I feel good about what they are learning.  I know they are in a good place with good people who pray for them and desire for them to succeed.  The pressure is off my shoulders to do it all.  God is showing me that even though my kids aren't with me 100 % of the time, they are still with Him that long.

I know that our economy is not good.  There are many who think the end of the world as we know it is near.  I don't know what has brought them to that conclusion, but it makes me uncomfortable to hear it and to know that we just got ourselves into the biggest debt of our lives with the purchase of this house.  I think I'm in a good field.  I felt like the Lord told me that He did not want me to give up my license.  He even did a little miracle to ensure that that didn't happen January 2010.  This job was His leading, and I hope the house is part of His plan too.  At any rate, I hope that even if the world falls apart, my job will stand secure and so will the kids' school situation, or something as good.  I know that if my job falls through, God will continue to ever sustain us as our heavenly Father. Heck, if worse comes to worst, I've got six years of homeschooling experience, and I even know a little more now what school looks like in a good system, so I could emulate it a little better if I had to...