This is the first entry in my blog regarding our lives as unschoolers. I call it living the free life because that is what we are, free. As unschoolers we are free to soak up all that this life and this world have to offer. As Christians we have been set free from sin and death by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are free from man made rules and religions as well. That is not to say we are not law abiding citizens or that we feel it's ok to do what we want with out consequence. We do live by the principles, values, and morals we find in God's Word the Bible because we believe that is God's ideal plan for mankind. Though we are not perfect, we strive to serve and love our Lord and to treat other human beings with love and respect because they are made in the Father's own image. We believe in free will. The Apostole Paul writes "Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up" in 1 Corinthians 10:23. Again he writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." In other words, God gave us free will to do as we want. We are free to do anything. However not everything is good or proffitable. And as Paul writes "...I will not be mastered by anything." Some of those things we are free to do have the ability to become our masters therefore we chose to not do those things. We don't just tell our kids "don't smoke" or "don't drink nor do drugs" or "don't have premarital sex", etc. We also let our children know the reasons why they were created by the Lord and that they are worthy of better choices in life. We tell them candidly about the possible negative concequences of such actions and that they, not us their parents nor anyone else, will suffer the most from those choices, In the same way we explain to them the awesome and wonderful concequences that come from living a pure and holy life for the Lord. Yet, the choice is left up to them. I've told my children that it is not enough for them to say they belive is Jesus Christ and in our Christian God if the only reason they say that is because we told them so. They may in their own time seek that truth for themselves because only when in their hearts they are truly covinced God's truth will they be saved. That does not mean they will have all the answers or that of of their doubts will be satisfied. However they cannot live a faith that does not truly belong to them just because their parents told them that is what they have to believe. I am not afraid in the least bit to allow my children the freedom to question, iquire and even doubt our faith. On the contrary, I am eager for the day when they realisise for themselves that Jesus Christ is indeed the only way to the Father beyond a shadow of a doubt. So we continue to grow and discover all that the Lord has to offer us in this life. My husband and I are our children's partners and facilitators in their journey of discovery, and other than the Lord himself, we are their biggest fans.
