Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste

Although the phrase, “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” is usually reserved for the promotion of political agendas, it is a good line to remember as parents with school age children throughout the Midwest have their children at home. Our governor has even mentioned the possibility of public schools being closed through the fall. With all this educational confusion, it is a perfect opportunity to share with friends and neighbors, near and far, the glory of homeschooling and, more specifically, the model of home discipleship.

Think of the difference it has made in your family’s life. I realize some may be experiencing setbacks presently, and a few may even be undergoing rebellion to one extent or another. Homeschooling does not absolutely insulate us from those possibilities. Still, the Word of God is being implanted in the lives of our children on a daily basis, and by God’s grace He will bring those seeds to fruition. We have our hope in Christ.

The more I age, the more I realize the power of 1 Corinthians 15:10:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. —1 Corinthians 15:10 (ESV)

Yes, like Paul, we work hard at discipling our children. We don’t want to receive the grace of Christ in vain, walking along side our children. Yet, our work, intentionality, and efforts are all dependent upon that grace. What “success” we experience is the result of the goodness of the Lord.

Like many others, I have been praying for genuine revival and reformation in our nation because our stench is even greater than Sodom and Gomorrah, especially given our initial vision as a nation. More than that, there are number of individuals within the ICHE family that pray and fast each month specifically for homeschoolers, that we too would experience a fresh move of grace from our Master. We too need to be daily conformed into the image of His Son. This is why we need an outpouring of grace.

God has used the ICHE Family Conference in so many ways throughout the years. Family trees have been abundantly watered and legacies changed. Because of the grace of God through our generous ICHE donor families, we have a unique opportunity this year to offer a free, virtual conference. There is no way I can cover up my gratitude for God’s grace on the board and convention committee to take this step of faith for the greater good. This will give more fathers and mothers the opportunities to hear the message of home discipleship. I call this homeschooling evangelism!

It is in that spirit that I ask you for two things in the next three weeks. First, please help us spread the word of the free conference to as many individuals as possible. To your neighbors. Extended family members. Friends. Church family. Let them know this is not just a homeschool conference but a parenting, marriage, family, and lifestyle conference. Second, pray, pray, pray! Let us pray as if our lineage depended on it. If you want to join others in fasting and prayer, we usually reserve the second Tuesday of each month to cry out unto the Lord. Here are some things we will be focusing on: (All scriptures quoted from ESV unless otherwise noted.)

1. Pray that God will ordain many people to register for the conference so that they may hear the vision of home discipleship.
   • At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison –Col. 4:3
   • No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. –John 6:44
2. Pray that attendees will be supernaturally drawn to the sessions they need and be granted ears to hear the wisdom and understanding for this season of life.
   • And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” –Mark 4:9
   • But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. –Deut. 29:4
3. Pray that speakers would have real messages that would not simply point people to homeschooling but point them and their families to a deeper understanding of Christ.
   • praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, –Eph. 6;18, 19 (NKJV)
   • The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. –Proverbs 16:23
4. Pray the hearts of the hearers would be prepared by the Holy Spirit for the seed of the gospel and for the seed of home discipleship to take root.
   • A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. –Is. 40:3
   • As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. –Luke 8:15
5. Pray that the Holy Spirit would anoint with power the words spoken and would illuminate eyes to previously missed truths.
   • and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. –1 Cor. 2:4, 5
   • having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, –Eph. 1:18
6. Pray for any who are weary, either of homeschooling or of life in general, to receive life-giving words of hope.
   • but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. –Is. 40:31
   • The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. –Is. 50:4
7. Pray that the messages will continue to resonate with the virtual attendees long after the conference is over.
   • And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. –John 1:32
   • Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. –Numbers 11:25
8. Pray for marriages and families to be united in vision and heart.
   • And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, –Ez. 11:19
   • “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.–John 17:20, 21
9. Pray for all the details and technology to work well so as not to hinder the message.