Great Wisdom from Sally Clarkson

This is way to good not to post............It really brings things into perspective.

Sally Clarkson:

"I have spent the last several weeks speaking at conferences. I constantly meet moms who are trying to homeschool the best way and be sure that their children get it “all”. How blessed your children are to have you as their moms. However, I want to encourage each of you to relax. Homes have been the place where genius has been birthed, leaders have been made for thousands of years. It was because of the faithful mothers who have trained their children in character, given them chores to do, had discussions over the dinner meal, and read the Bible to their children. I feel so strongly that parents are so intent on getting the “best” experience in education, while not understanding that the most important aspect in a child's education is the mentoring and directing of the parents over the personality, influences, peer relationships, and character development.

So many moms have asked me, “Do you know about this or that two day a week school and how it works and if it will help my child educationally?” I have lived through three of my children graduating and I have seen amazing results in their lives even though we didn't have perfect school days or have consistent schedules. (Seventeen moves, six times internationally, car accidents, illnesses, etc.) Yet, my children have scored at the top on their SAT's, received scholarships or pursued other areas in the arts and ministry where they were able to excel. What is the most important to me, though, is that, by God's grace, our children still love us and listen to us and love the Lord and are seeking Him.

I have been to several national and international leadership conferences in the past year and am sick to find out the statistics of the youth culture—79% of children who grew up in Christian homes leave their Christian faith when they go to college. The appalling statistics of youth who are still virgins by the age of 17 is beyond comprehension. These were just statistics to me until they started turning up in my basement–our kids rec room–friends of my children who had grown up in church and some in homeschool groups who were in tears, confessing to my boys that they were sleeping with their Christian girlfriends and didn't know how to stop and feeling guilty. With the rampant sexuality on tv and on the web and the immoral standards of movies, and the leisure time that children have with other children who are not monitored in their homes–and in your neighborhood, I must say—puts pressure on your children to want to conform and places temptation in their pathway. So the question of schools or not depends on what peers they will become heart connected to–what morals the people in the school have, how emotionally attached they become to those in the school that could lead their heart astray.

In other words, focusing on educational classes primarily is, as I have said in my conferences, “straightening the picture on a wall of a house that is burning down.”

Your goal in education is reaching their heart, filling their emotional cup, teaching them moral foundations, capturing their vision for life for the kingdom of God, teaching them what it looks like to walk through difficult times while holding tight to the hand of God. May God grant you understanding and faith to follow these paths and to raise up a strong generation for Him."


Sally Clarkson