"The skit was excellent. But, unfortunately, that is exactly how my family is," a man admitted to my husband at the Finish Well conference. He was referring to the skit that opened up the conference on Friday night portraying the communication problems that many homeschooling families experience in their homes. This skit revealed the spiritual battle that occurs when we try to communicate.

Many fathers, after the skit was finished, listened attentively as Pastor Mike challenged them to lead their homes and walked them through how to win back the heart of a rebellious teen. In fact, you could hear a pin drop. Every eye was watching Pastor Mike, listening. I never knew the problem was so intense in homeschooling families. People needed hope. When an altar call was given, dads rushed forward to ask the Lord to help them, anoint them.

_ If our homeschooling journey is like a race, then high school is the final lap. We all want to run in a way that we can win the prize, crossing the finish line to the shouts of affirmation from Heaven. We long for kudos from our Heavenly Father, to realize that He is pleased with our hard work. We desire to see good fruit and success in our children's lives, to know that our labor has not been in vain.

Our children are the measure of success in our homeschooling endeavor. Are they godly men and women who love Jesus, serving Him with all their hearts or do their hearts wander to things of the world? Do they resist temptation or do they cave in to the devil's tricks and schemes? Are these ladies and gentlemen confident and courageous, or do they shrink back, afraid to live life to the fullest? Are people important priorities? Do they enjoy healthy relationships?

We can look at our children at graduation, ten years after graduation, and at their children to see the results of our homeschooling. But that is in the future. What about now. In the homeschooling high school race, how can we finish well?

Commit Yourself to Finish Well

First of all, we take homeschooling high school seriously, realizing that the results of our efforts will last a lifetime. Homeschooling is not a "part-time job," a hobby, or something to try out for a year or two. Homeschooling is a calling from God. He sets us apart for this ministry to raise up mighty men and women of God for Him!

Answer this call from God with an act of consecration. Dedicate yourself to him...Again! Yes, you may have done this before, but do it again. Tell the Lord that you are committed to follow His plan for your life, including His call to homeschool. Then pray and give yourself to the Lord fully for this mission. Get ready for God to do amazing things. He just waits for hearts to be fully consecrated to Him!

Running the race together is more fun than running alone, and sometimes the only way to finish the race. When we find ourselves knocked down and on the sidelines, watching the other runners pass us by, we need another runner to stop, give us a hand, and help us get back into the race.

Finishing well can require healthy relationships! Last time we talked about how our relationships with our husbands and children can help us finish the homeschooling race well. Today, we'll talk about homeschooling with other families and our support system.

Homeschooling with Other Families

Most of us homeschoolers reject age segregation. Instead, we believe that life is best with all ages mixed together. Unfortunately, the rest of the world is not on the same page, so we get to church and the family is divided up--teens to youth group, kids to Children's Church, and parents to the "Married with Kids Sunday School Class." Of course, the church is waking up and ridding itself of age segregation in some parts of the world and maybe you belong to a church like mine that mixes every age together.

Homeschooling families long to connect with other families who are on the same page when it comes to being together as families. Parents want to be with other parents who like having their kids around and kids who enjoy hanging out with their parents. What a wonderful thing to be friends with other homeschooling families, not just to coop together, but to enjoy life and ministry together.

When the Nolette family joined our church in 2000, we became instant friends. When Laura pulled her older sons out of public elementary school, I had a homeschool buddy. Soon we were co-oping once a week and calling it "History Day." Those weeks turned into years and, to this day, we still have "history day" once a week. Sometimes "history day" has been government or economics class, but we have continued to enjoy a friendship over the years. Our children are all close friends and we have helped each other through many difficult times, including a period where we only had one working vehicle between both families!