My thoughts on the IHM Home School Conference (Part 1)

 It was my first time attending a conference of this nature, so I give you my thoughts and opinions as such, and can offer no comparisons to other events firsthand! I share my reactions and thoughts on just one of the talks on Friday. I will post more, but as individual posts, for it is too much to put into one blog!

Friday there were 4 talks. The first by an amazing priest, whom I have always enjoyed listening to. The power of his words reached right into me, as he spoke about forming the moral conscience. I have also been reading and following along with Sarah @Amongst Lovely Things, and she has posted twice now about forming the moral imagination through reading classic fairy tales. A HUGE EYE OPENER FOR ME! I was raised on the Disney version of fairy tales (YUCK), and often struggled in school when we did read decent literature, as I did NOT appreciate it!

 Anyhow, this priest was so on point about this part of the parenting, and growing in my own understanding of the Faith. He spoke about how "freedom is the ability to choose what is right and good." He spoke of the natural law that is inscribed on the hearts of each of us, as God's creation, and that seeking satisfaction outside of God's law will never make any of us happy. WOW! WOW! I am pretty sure I spent my entire life, minus the last 3-4 years, seeking this type of satisfaction. How could I be capable of showing this to my children when I am so immature in this area myself? As always, God had the answer. God spoke these words through this priest standing before me " God's grace is ALWAYS sufficient". Does God know what I need to hear, and when I am ready to hear it or what?  He continues to speak about our job as parents is to give our children a properly formed conscience, based on Church teaching, regular and constant prayer, regular reception of the sacraments ( esp. the Eucharist), and striving for excellence in living out virtue. I have an obligation to know my faith and to continue to form my conscience accordingly. If there is anything the last year has taught me its that I can never go back to not knowing what I know now. Sure, I could ignore it, and continue to seek satisfaction outside of God's law, and continue to allow myself and my children to be unhappy. I could ignore it, and God will still hold me accountable for that choice. We are not the auditors of good and evil, God's divine law is, which He put on the hearts of each of us during His formation of man.

SO, what does all this mean in regards to homeschooling? My primary goal should be the the forming of my children's moral conscience by way of teaching them about God. The means of doing so are Mass, prayer, the sacraments, and helping them live the virtues to the best of the ability. How can I do this if they are away from me 7-8 hours a day in "school"? How can I continue to strive for perfection in said virtues if the means that God has given me to do so are gone all day? Am I ready and eager to accept the moral teachings of the Church, so I am able to LIVE them out for my kids? Do I even know the moral teachings of the Church well enough to be the teacher of them? This I do not know, but I do know that God's grace is always sufficient. If I am seeking out the Lord through the means He has given me through His Church, then I feel I can not fail. I know that for our family, home schooling is about so much more than "sheltering our children" from the evil that prevails in this world. I do not think there is a way to keep them away from it anyway. My job in being called to home school is to RAISE GOOD CATHOLICS, who can stand on a properly formed moral conscience, so that when the world attacks them for it, they are able to defend it, and die for it. This priest hit the nail on the head for me, and articulated what I knew God has wanted for our family, but just didn't have the words to express it!