Fall 2019

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By the time this column goes to print, my youngest child
will have graduated from high school. My oldest is 27,
and we have homeschooled all the way through. For
most of my adult life, I have been a homeschool mom. As my
youngest child comes to the end of her homeschooling years,
I have such mixed emotions. I know it sounds dramatic to say
that it is the end of an era but, for me, it truly is. We are blessed
to have some of our young adults still living at home, but they are
living their own lives and becoming the adults that God intended
them to be. Though I pray for them and may be a counselor and
sounding board, I no longer play the major part in their lives that
I once did.
The end of an era is a time to reflect. For you moms who are in
the thick of raising little ones, please be encouraged that mymain
memories are good ones. I remember the moments cuddled up
together reading books. I remember the times of playing in the
park together as a family. I remember hiking through woods as a
family. I remember the seven of us laughing and talking around
the table. I remember the nightly Bible reading and prayer times.
I remember late night discussions about theology and politics. I
remember the hours of playing table games. I remember family
vacations. I remember listening as they talked about the things
that were important to them. Of course, not all of that is in the
past, but these events do not occur on the regular basis that they
did at one time.
I have made many mistakes in my motherhood. With God’s
help, there have also been some successes. I’d like to share with
you some of the things I would do differently and some of the
things I would not change.
From the time we had two children, Jeff and I tried to instill in
our children that they were each other’s best friends. There were
days when they were little that I wondered if they would even
like each other when they grew up, much less be best friends.
It warms my heart to say that now all of my children truly are
close. They enjoy being together and seek each other out for
both fun and counsel. Yes, they have moments of disagreement,
The End of an Era
BY KIM STILLWELL
even now, and times when they get on each other’s nerves, but
they are good companions.
Scripture memory was a priority in our home. I remember
verses I learned when I was young and can still quote them ver-
batim. But I will stumble through passages I learned last week.
For this reason, it was important to me that my kids memorize
Scripture. When they were little, we would go over a verse each
day before meal time. We would go over the same verse until
the children knew it well. We also learned the books of the Bible
this way. As they grew older, they learned longer passages on
their own. I incorporated this into our school day and, on the
days when we had to cut our school day short, memorizing and
reading/listening to the Bible took priority even over math and
English. As useful as math and English are, I knew that hiding
God’s Word in their hearts was even more important.
I’m thankful that Jeff was very consistent about having family
devotions with our children. Over the years, we went through
many books of the Bible and prayed for many people and mis-
sionaries. If you are a mom reading this and your husband does
not lead in family devotions, please do not be discouraged. While
that may be the ideal, life is not always ideal. In fact, usually it is
not. I know several families where the mom begins each school
day with Bible and prayer time, and the children benefit greatly
from this.
I love to read, and this has carried over to my children. I spent
many hours reading to them frombabyhood until they preferred
to read on their own in late childhood or early teen years. Often
I read to them as much as two hours a day (not all at the same
time). We were able to go through so many books together, and
the kids still occasionally bring up a book we read together and
talk about it.
I am sure I didn’t always do this, but I tried hard to listen to my
children when they came to talk to me. Our children do not have
to open up to us. If they choose to share their hearts with us, it is
an honor and a privilege. Our children should be able to tell us any-
thing. Sometimes we may be surprised or even shocked at what