Thoughts of a homeschooler~By Kyle

    Wow, that would be boring.

     From the very start of my schooling days I have appreciated my parents decision to homeschool me (and my siblings). When I occasionally glimpse what a public schooled teenager boy's lifestyle is usually like, I thank God for my parents and that they took the time to give me something different. Of course, being homeschooled is not the only thing they have done for me, among other things are giving me a desire to follow Christ, keeping me at a safe distance from brain-sucking activities (video games, cell phones and twitter, Facebook, exc.), instilling in me a hard-working spirit (yes, I despised the word "productive" just like any other young person at first, but now I have a certain fondness for it),  letting my main training in Christ not come from age-segregated settings, and many, many other things. Thank goodness for homeschooling! To illustrate my point, here is what yesterday was like for me:

      I woke up at around 4:50, and that is typical for Friday morning for me. My dad and I go to a men's bible study at 6:00 at our church. Once there (and after a couple of cups of coffee), I am so glad that I get up so early! All around me some of my best friends are chatting and laughing before our group begins, and no, they are not teenagers. In fact, I am the only teenager in the group, but I feel welcome and at home with my "seasoned" friends. Half of them are over sixty. And then our bible time begins, and that is when the real joy of the time begins. For an hour and a half we pray, read the Bible, and discuss how the passages apply to our lives. I gain so much as I listen to this very wise group talk about what the passage means; it is awesome! I learn far more than I believe I would ever learn at any youth group or Sunday school.

    And that is my first point. Where in the Bible does it talk about separating the people in the church into age-segregated groups? Um, nowhere. In these two verses below, it would seem as if we should actually spend time with older men (gasp!) if we want to become wise.

    Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? - Job 12:12
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. - Proverbs 13:20

   That is partly (there are several other reasons) why we don't go to youth group or Sunday school. In fact, especially in youth group, foolish behavior is encouraged almost as much as godly principles are in some of the silly games and activities they play. As one of the Christian teens said after I asked him what he was learning in youth group, "Um, I don't know . . . I mostly just go there for the games and stuff."

 

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. - Proverbs 27:17

 

   I consider myself to be a man. I may be a very young man, but I am a man. That is why I almost enjoy talking to men in my church more than teenagers. You don't find teenagers in the Bible; you find young men. In bible times, at the age of thirteen a Jewish boy would start becoming a man. Many of our nation's founding fathers were doing amazing things when they were barely "teenagers". Of course, it's not like I never spend time with my age group. I enjoy spending time with my teenager friends as much as I do my older friends, but I don't just spend time with my peers. I think it would be very harmful to only spend time with teenagers, because if we really are honest with ourselves, us young folk really don't know a whole lot. We are rather foolish. But I don't want to stay that way! That's why I would encourage every young person to reevaluate who they spend their time with the most. Do you truly want to hold on to the silly things of your childhood, or do you want to become a wise man or woman?

 

 Sorry for my soapbox session. I have several other points I wanted to make, but I will give you a chance to catch your breath. :0)