Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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{Out of the Blue} Truth throughout

February 28, 2013 by Kristin Leave a Comment

My girl and a classmate on their school’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”-themed Christmas float.

I’m the daughter of a retired public school principal and a retired public school teacher, both of whom continue to work with school districts in various ways. My grandma worked for a public school board of education. The two years I had my aunt for junior and senior high school English class, I didn’t know how to address her. My print journalism bachelor’s degree is from a public university. One of my newspaper jobs had me covering two K-12 school districts, a public university and a private college.

I’m a product of public education who understands Kentucky’s strange education jargon. And, you know, I think I turned out fine. So, of course, I debated with my husband for years about a schooling decision for our family before we even had to make one.

I was determined to send my kids to public school. I justified with academic, social and spiritual reasons. But, really, I just wanted to do what was comfortable. This wasn’t the first time I was convinced I was right without giving God a chance to speak to my heart.

Out of the BlueKristen at Chasing Blue Skies has a weekly link-up on surprises. This week’s prompt is: 

What is an unexpected adventure the Lord dropped in your lap or asked you to take? 


God spoke to my heart during Cate’s second year at a local Christian preschool, where they prayed before lunch, talked about people in the Bible, learned scripture verses, sang songs that spoke truth, celebrated Jesus’ birth at Christmas, and talked about the resurrection at Easter.

I realized when I sent my girl to public kindergarten, that truth was going to get watered down. We live in a community with two high-performing public school districts. My girl was on the verge of reading, is as social as they come, and wanted to go to kindergarten. She was made for school and I had no doubt she’d do fine wherever she was.

But I didn’t want her to do fine. I wanted her to thrive. I wanted her learning to be based on a foundation of what is eternally important.

So I started looking into a nearby, private school that uses a classical, Christian curriculum. I didn’t really know much about it, and I’m certainly still learning, but the more I talked with the principal there, the more I realized she was verbalizing the philosophy I held in my heart but hadn’t put into words yet. God is the creator of everything. He gives us our minds, our skills and our talents. He’s the creator of this world. His truth is portrayed in art and music and literature. His story is told throughout history. All of this is the foundation of the math, reading, writing, geography, and science lessons. Truth is woven throughout. 

We registered Cate for kindergarten at New Covenant Christian Academy before her 4-year-old preschool year was finished. I haven’t regretted our decision once. I shouldn’t have argued with my husband all those years. I shouldn’t have been so prideful in my decision without really even consulting God. Yes, I’m the daughter of public school employees here on this earth, but I’ve been adopted into God’s family.

My best friends here homeschool or send their kids to public school, but God has reaffirmed more than once we made the right decision for us. I wasn’t sure what my public education family would think, but they seem to trust Cate is in good hands to learn.

I volunteer there each Friday morning. I’ve been on a couple field trips and help by taking pictures to submit to the local newspaper. I’ve become friends with the principal, who is such an encourager. And more recently I was asked to be on the school board.

I assumed Ben would go two more years to the preschool we’ve loved and then on to kindergarten at New Covenant. But, yet again, God has prompted me to change my mind. He’s registered for preschool next year at his sister’s school.

This isn’t the first time God’s led me somewhere I never expected to be. I’m sure it won’t be the last. But, you know, He knows what He’s doing. And my family is better off because I’m not really in charge anyway.

________

I’m linking up today as part of the “Out of the Blue” series at Chasing Blue Skies. Want more? Subscribe to get “Insights” in your inbox. Like 152 Insights on Facebook. Or follow me on Twitter.

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Filed Under: faith, life, motherhood

Comments

  1. Elizabeth Anne May says

    February 28, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    My girls go to public school, but they went to our church's preschool, as does my son now. It is hard. They have a strong faith, but they know they can't talk about God at school, or if they do, they will get strange looks. It's like they have to be "closet Christians" because it's not cool or politically correct. I'm so glad you've found a wonderful Christian school for your kids!

    Reply
  2. Kristin Hill Taylor says

    February 28, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Schooling decisions are tough ones! But I know you're doing a good job raising your kids in faith, regardless of where they go to school.

    Reply
  3. Kristen says

    February 28, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    "This isn't the first time God's led me somewhere I never expected to be. I'm sure it won't be the last. But, you know, He knows what He's doing. And my family is better off because I'm not really in charge anyway." ~ This sums it all up, doesn't it? And He is creative enough to arrange a "best" schooling scenario for each individual family. No one size fits all.

    Thanks so much for your words today, Kristin!

    Reply
  4. Kristin Hill Taylor says

    February 28, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    That's probably what I've learned most in almost six years of parenting — there is no one-size-fits-all answer for most anything, even though I find myself assuming there is! Even with the two kids I'm raising — they require different approaches to nearly everything! It's awesome we serve a creative God.

    Reply
  5. Elise Daly Parker says

    March 1, 2013 at 12:08 am

    A wonderful story Kristin! God has a plan for every one of us. Awesome!

    Reply
  6. Elise Daly Parker says

    March 1, 2013 at 12:15 am

    Just wanted to add…I returned to the town I had grown up in to raise my family. I was shocked at how "progressive" it had become. One of the first things I heard about my four year old's school was how they were no longer celebrating Christmas. I was horrified. I prayed…and I felt the Lord wanted me to stay in the public schools, though I was questioning. I tell you, this decision had me relying deeply on God and prayer. I became a part of Moms In Prayer (formerly Moms In Touch) and I wonder if I would have prayed so fervently if they had been in a Christian environment? I don't know…but I revisited the question many times. And I felt the Lord leading me to stay public. Now my youngest will graduate high school. As I said in my brief comment below…an individual plan from God for every one of us. He's awesome that way!

    Reply
  7. Michele-Lyn says

    March 1, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    You are a good mama and a faithful follower. I go year by year for our kiddos. I know. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Kristin Hill Taylor says

    March 1, 2013 at 4:35 pm

    There's nothing wrong with going year by year. I believe God has us in this particular school for now, which in my mind seems to be early elementary years, but who knows. 🙂

    Reply
  9. Kristin Hill Taylor says

    March 1, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    There was a lady in my hometown who sort of adopted me and prayed for me in her Moms in Touch group. I hadn't thought about that in a several years, so I'm glad to be reminiscing about that now! And I'm glad to know it still exists!

    I definitely understand what you're saying about God using the public school situation to draw you to him. He works in all things and has a plan for each of us. Seeking him is the most important thing, so it's awesome he's honoring that in both our lives even though it looks different.

    Reply

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

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