I was a spunky, giggly, goofy girl who was not “popular” by any means.  However, I was jealous over others’ abilities to dress fashionably, act sociably, and be assertive.  Nevertheless, I had dedicated my heart and soul to Jesus and I had to define what that meant to me.

As I looked around and admired others and wished to be more like them, I was also disqusted.  I remember one day coming to school only to find out that one of my friends had an abortion over the weekend.  I didn’t even realize that she was in a relationship in that way.  I remember talking to a girl on the bus about sin and her theory was that she could sin as much as she wanted because God would forgive her.  I had countless times where I encounted sinful nature in those around me and they didn’t seem to think anything about it; there was no longstanding remorse.  As I was learning who I was as a person, I was also dealing with my thoughts and feelings about various social debates such as sex before marriage, homosexuality, and abortion.  All I knew is that those conversations with my friends left an indescribable deep pit in my soul.  I’m not trying to condemn you if you personally held these beliefs in the past, or currently hold them.  I’m trying to express that “normal” people seem to have no problems with any of this, it is just everyday life.  I suppose being “normal” is being sinful since “All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)  For me, I was, well, different.

People always told me to “live a little”, “have fun in life”, etc.  What was wrong with me that I didn’t find pleasure in sneaking out of the house, drinking alcohol, and who knows what other creative ways to “live a little” like my friends were doing.  I needed more fulfillment in life; there was more to “life” than this.  I had played flute in Jr High and was on the Drill team in highschool, but those were not very fulfilling.  There was something that I desperately needed.  Deep down, I knew I had decided to follow Jesus and there was no turning back!

My heart yearned to just cling to my Jesus, so I began to pray about what God had for me.  Homeschooling started to tug on my heart, so I approached my parents.  I told them I was tired of Highschool, the popularity games, the racial fights, the police coming in & taking out my drug intoxicated classmates.  I told them I wanted more time to spend with Jesus.  Having completed my freshman year & gone to Drill team camp in preparation for my Sophmore year, they pulled me out of the public school district to homeschool me with a Christian Curriculum.

My parents sought help from our local church at the time to find some information on how to homeschool.  In those days, there were others, but there were not many.  There were no co-op classes and very few social events to attend for homeschooling families.  There was also a very limited selection of homeschool curricula.  The church pointed us towards Mike & Sylvia Johnson who had homeschooled their two boys, David & Kirk.