Category: Léo’s Blog 2013-2014 Academic Year

Written by Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-10-28.

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on a personal knowledge of the scriptures can be in error, as no one has a corner on the truth. We simply and sincerely search for it.

We, as frail human beings, are a defensive bunch. Being imperfect, we all make mistakes. Some are small, like putting cinnamon instead of chili powder in the batch of chili. This error does not have serious repercussions. Other mistakes are very costly such as shutting off the heat instead of the hot water tank when going on an extended vacation in the middle of the winter. Whether the mistake is small or large, someone is responsible for making the mistake and must accept the consequences of that decision.

When it comes to making decisions regarding our children’s education, we do so based on the information we have. Some decisions are good such as deciding to home educate. Some are not, such as sending them off to public school. Whether we acknowledge it or not, God has entrusted our children to us as their parents and has given us the responsibility to raise them for His kingdom. We use various resources and guides to help us but we still do make mistakes. When we do, we must accept the consequences, ask His forgiveness and carry on. We do our best as loving parents but there will be some things that don’t turn out as we had hoped. Ultimately, because there are no guarantees in this life, the results may not be what we think they should be. Children may rebel and do things contrary to our directives, which may be biblical in foundation. We at Education Unlimited want to help you train your children following a biblical standard. Remember that people don’t see things as God does. We see only the immediate, temporal result, when God knows the final, eternal picture. The last page of the story isn’t written yet. Trust in the Lord, admit your error (encourage your children to do the same), ask His forgiveness and go forward.

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-11-11.

If a building requires a good foundation, a life more so.

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: Matt. 6:31-33

If what matters most in life is relationships, then we are blessed indeed. We have been privileged with being able to visit hundreds of families each year, not only throughout the Province of Alberta, but across this country and beyond. Of all the relationships possible in this world, it should be obvious that none is more important than that of the family. It is most certainly what matters most to us, beginning with our own and enriched by yours.

Facilitating a multitude of families has given us opportunity for much insight. Insights that when tested against the truth of the Bible has brought more than a few things to light. We hope to encourage you with some of these insights over the next few weeks.

It is obvious that there are many processes and procedures at work in the world of home education, but the foundational reason for choosing to educate at home directs them all. Nobody builds a house without first establishing a strong foundation, yet there are people whose spiritual house lacks that foundation. Actually, it is not that there is a lack of foundation as much as there is a usually a lack of consideration as to what our world view foundation is. We all have a foundation, but most of us simply carry on in life, believing what we have been told or experienced without questioning or having a clear understanding of what directs our lives. All of us have adopted and incorporated things that are not true as part of our world view foundation simply because we did not have the the truth against which we could measure potential error.

If building a house requires a good foundation, building a family, more so. The Bible gives us two possible foundations, one as solid as a rock and one as unstable as sand. The first is based on the truth, the other is not. People do not normally determine to build on sand or lies, but that is what we default to if we do not actively seek the truth. Coming to the knowledge of the truth should be the motivation of all who desire Godly wisdom. If we seek it, we will find it, but if it doesn’t matter, we will no doubt be accepting lies that will lead us, and all that we do, away from God. The Bible clearly states that we are either for Him or against Him. We pray that all home educating families will actively seek the truth in order to make sure that the children are truthfully directed to God rather than to man.

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-12-02.

How do we know that what is being advanced as Christian is actually Biblical?

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: Eph. 4:14-16

When we fail to properly identify something as untrue, we have a tendency to simply accept it as true. It is far easier to accept and normalize a lie than to stand against it. To stand against a lie will put us directly at odds with those who would advance a lie as the truth and so this is why those who follow Jesus are persecuted for their faith. It is also possible that individuals can be completely in error, yet believing that they have an inside knowledge of the truth, can behave in such a way as to attract persecution, but this is for being “a nut” rather than for standing on the truth.

Secular thinking is so prevalent in our western world that it has become entrenched, not only outside, but also inside the institutional Christian church as would soon be discovered when discussing the topic of education. Ignorance of the facts has always been the greatest enemy of any position, yet it is still difficult to comprehend how church organizations can oppose the biblical perspective of training and discipling of children in favour of the secular educational philosophies advanced by the state. This rather confusing situation is brought about by the normalization and acceptance of error, accepted as truth and “christianized”, in spite of the blatant opposition to scriptural directives. A few isolated scriptures may be invoked to defend the government authority in education, but mostly the secular position goes unquestioned and unchallenged. Any opposition is usually ignored, scorned or persecuted.

None of this makes any sense, either from a biblical or common sense perspective! When we accept the false claims made by secularists as true and then advance them as biblical, we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. We end up training and indoctrinating rather than training and discipling our children which encourages and perpetuates the acceptance of the secular claims against the truth of the Bible.

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-12-09.

Most people think they are not religious, but observe what happens when you challenge what they believe.

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: James 1:27

The biggest deception perpetuated by secularists is that they are neutral and therefore, non-religious. There is no such thing as neutral. Just as we have searched in vain for the “standard” child and the “perfect” family, so have we discovered no example anywhere, of anything being neutral. One can be diplomatic but never neutral as diplomacy is the art of being kind to potential opponents while covering the true, inherently biased, and therefore, non-neutral position of the diplomat.

Although there may be a few definitions for the word religious, the one we are using here is when a person ascribes a supreme importance to a pursuit or interest. How religious is the secularist’s desire to get rid of God? Very religious! There is only room for one God, if we understand God as supreme. No plurality here! Therefore, if God is no longer God, something or someone must become “god” in His place. As a consequence, when we position ourselves as “god”, we can become as religious about what we believe to be true as we can about what is actually true.

We have seen innumerable examples of religious people who think they have a corner on the truth. These people rarely question what they believe but are very quick to defend it! If truth is absolute, it needs no defence, therefore, there should be no need to defend our position, unless, of course, what we believe is, in fact, not true.

We are all religious. Some because we believe the truth while others because they can’t be wrong. To be open to the possibility of being wrong rather than to be religious about being right will make the difference between believing something because it is true and something being true because we believe it.

Part of the series Inspiration From Facilitation
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2013-12-16.

Some may actually believe that home educated student aren’t as well trained as their public school counterpart, but what are we comparing?

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: Romans 12:2

One of the common concerns we hear from both parents and students is that they think they are less educated than their public school counterparts. Indeed, an interesting statement, given the fact that most people left the public system because it was not doing a good job! Where do people get this idea from? Perhaps we have so normalized the public system that we use it as our example for training children when we, as Christians, should be using the bible for our directives.

When one thinks about it, secularist have won the day when claiming they know something about education. They erroneously state that they have the authority in education and that they have the standards by which we can measure student achievement. Most parents have attended school and when the community, family, church and government all advance state education as the only true option for the training of children, it is easy to understand why one can actually start believing that the state or church can produce a better product.

But, this creates a dilemma. If what we believe defines our faith, then our believing the state’s claims in education becomes the foundation of our faith in education. What needs to be determined is not whether or not students are meeting with the state’s expectations but whether or not they meet with God’s expectations. This is critical because the outcomes are very different. If we measure our children’s success by God’s standards, they will be prepared for eternity and this world. If, on the other hand, we have our children meet man’s standards, there is but an assumption of success in this world and no preparation for eternity. Where will you go for your “standards and directives”. God, His Word, His directives and guidance or man and his vain promises? It should be an easy choice.

Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2013-12-30.

As 2013 comes to a close, it is time to reflect on our accomplishments of the past year.

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: Gal. 2:20

Year end is always a time of reflection for me. When I consider that “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”, I evaluate my year in terms of what I contributed to this world, of what would be said of me if I were to leave this world behind. If my life is His life, then my time is His time and all that I have becomes His. Otherwise Jesus is not Lord of my life. How did I reflect that faith? Did those who came in contact with me recognize He who dwells within me? Did my conduct indicate that I desire to be His servant? Were my imperfections made strong by His strength? Did I use the time wisely, redeeming it because the days are evil?

A truthful evaluation of our life will always demonstrate that we fall short in every way. If God expected His servants to be perfect before they could serve Him, He would be in big trouble! He simply desires us to be faithful to Him rather than the world; to be true to ourselves so we can be to others; and to be real rather than religious. These are the parameters we should employ when looking at what was accomplished through us in the past year.

Reflecting on what was accomplished in Education Unlimited this year, no doubt the greatest has to be that we finally completed our new web site after nearly five years of preparation. We wanted a web site that would clearly demonstrate our faith, be attractive, easy to use and informative. Included were improvements on some older useful items and a number of new offerings as well, this blog being an example. Our plans are to make continuous improvements on what is already available and to make additions in order to provide the best service possible to the home educating community at large and for our members in particular, who have much more available to them.

In closing this year, I would be very interested in hearing from you in order to ascertain whether anybody is reading this blog and whether or not it is helpful and encouraging. If it is, then I will consider that our biggest accomplishment of the year of the year has been to live up to our Lord’s expectation to make other peoples’ lives better in a confused and dying world.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Just click the Ask Léo A Question button and tell me what you think of our efforts to help the Christian community, home educators in particular.

Part of the series Happy New Year
Written by Léo & Faye Gaumont, published on 2014-01-06.

Resolving to do things better or different this year?

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blogger which, although based on personal experience and knowledge of the scriptures, can be in error. No one has a corner on the truth but we should all sincerely be in search of it.

Bible Reference: Romans 7:15

Faye Says:
Happy New Year! We want to wish all of you a very good 2014, filled with the blessings of the Lord.
It has been the custom of various people at various times to make New Year’s resolutions. We “resolve” to improve ourselves in some way: lose ten pounds, save money, exercise more, spend more time with our children, et cetera. As we all know, these resolutions are usually started with great enthusiasm, but over time the determination seems to dwindle until we are back to being the same old person. In fact, we become so frustrated with this pattern that the only resolution some of us now make is not to make any more New Year’s resolutions! That way, if we don’t start, we won’t fail. I suppose that is true, but can we make improvements that will last? On our own strength, I don’t think most of us can, although there are some individuals that have the type of character that can succeed, no matter what. Paul addressed this pattern of wanting to accomplish something but being unable to in Romans 7:15 when talking about sin. “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” What or who can deliver us from this state? Only Jesus Christ who conquered sin on the cross and the Holy Spirit who intercedes to God on our behalf. However, we have to yield to the Spirit and let Him have His way, not our own, or else we will be back on the same old treadmill of bad habits. This year and every year, let us resolve to let God have dominion in our lives resulting in the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Léo Says:
Wishing you all a blessed year in 2014. We pray that you will also be blessed by what is included in this blog this year. We sincerely desire to hear back from you with your comments and questions.

We have big plans (not resolutions!) for this upcoming year that you are sure to enjoy and employ. We can only do our best when you contact us with your comments and concerns, so please do.

Many hands make light work. Do you have any ideas on how we can do things better? Do tell.

Starting with our prayer time with God, communication is the key to any relationship. We want to be more than just a home education provider. We want to have and maintain a relationship with you as Christian brothers and sisters. Make communicating with us one or your resolutions!