Homeschooling: My Conviction or My Obligation?

As I began my first day of homeschooling for the first grade level yesterday, my mind began to ponder.. "Why am I homeschooling?" A good friend of mine listened to me think through this out loud and then asked me a very thought provoking question, "Is this your conviction?" This one, simple question became the starting point for more reading, more studying and more soul searching. What is the definition of conviction? It is an unshakable belief in something without need for proof or evidence. What is obligation? Obligated means- caused by law or conscience to follow a certain course. So why do I homeschool? To sum it up simply, I homeschool because I feel that Gods Word has revealed to me that this is His will for our family at this time. That is not to say that God might not reveal another plan at another time, but for now I have an unshakable belief that this is Gods will for our family. On the other hand, I also feel obligated to fulfill my role as a parent as best I can, according to Gods Word. So I think I homeschool out of obligation (a good kind) and conviction. This is a conviction for me and will not be for everyone. God speaks to us all individually and calls us all to different things. I do not write this with any condemnation towards those who send their children to school. I am just writing this to share my thoughts aloud and to encourage other homeschool families to search their souls for why they homeschool.
Homeschooling holds up a mirror to my life like nothing else will. It doesn't take long before parents not only identify areas needing change and development in their children, but they begin to see their own personal weaknesses. Homeschooling is teaching me something that came as a suprise: the process of preparing my arrows begins with preparing my own heart and dealing with my own weaknesses. I have realized that my character is being developed in many more ways than I ever imagined it would be. I dont like coming face-to-face with my own character flaws, but if I really want to be effective in raising my children for the Lord, then I am going to have to go through the pain of seeing my own shortcomings and making the necessary changes. I am learning patience, diligence, resourcefulness, orderliness, availability, attentiveness, creativity, dependibility, determination, endurance, faith, flexibility, initiative, love, obedience, responsibility, thoroughness and so many other good things. The scripture that God has placed on my heart is this, "Fix these words of Mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up." Deut 11:18-19
I thought homeschooling would be good training for my children (and it is) but it turns out that homeschooling is the best training for me!