Rules, Rules, Rules

Take two. I'm going to try and punch dance this out before my friend, Laurel gets here, bearing cookies, house plants that won't survive the move to Germany, and her sweet children. That punch dance reference is from the movie "Hot Rod." And for those of you who haven't seen it, I say to you, "Lucky!"
This past Sunday my pastor used an example in his sermon that dealt with rules that we in society create to advance our ideas or agendas. The scripture was the woman at the well, whom Jesus asked for a drink from her water pot. He crossed many socially erected barriers to show love to her, and to tell her about the living water that would be her only true satisfaction.
My pastor's example dealt with swimsuit criteria at a youth summer conference that his children attended years ago. The criteria was meant to be an equalizer, of sorts, but his point was that it could do a lot of harm to the unchurched; his children's friends, in this instance.
Rich and I had an interesting discussion in the afternoon about it because I felt a little differently from my pastor about this issue. And my wise, loving hubby told me that I was wanting to enforce my idea as a better standard. Touche. Which one is better? Does it even really matter?
Which leads me to the issue of schooling. I posted an article last week that I read about the Duggars and Vision Forum. I'm not going to get into either; I will just say that each subject rubs me the wrong way. Or to quote my favorite line from "Open Range," when Robert Duvall says, "That really sticks in my craw."
Rich and I then began talking about the reasons friends present and past choose to home school their children vs. sending them to school. What are the reasons that mean so much that we feel compelled to keep our children at home? What makes us want to send our children to school? Does it matter? Another friend from years ago, who is now in the fight of her life with breast cancer, wrote me the other day about this, privately. She does homeschool her triplet daughters, but her point about schooling was nothing short of refreshing. "Are you redeemed?" she asked. "Good. God will take care of the rest." I've had a lot of reservations lately about public school for my children. Not because of the district. We wouldn't have Jack going to public school for Kindergarten in the fall if the district were subpar. Education is too important to Rich and me for it to just be "okay." We had to go to schools that were just okay, and it's laaaame. Is it thinking ahead to things like evolution and sex education? No. His foundation, and that of our other children, both now, and when those subjects come up years from now, will be shaped at home. They will all be sent out into the world knowing, and I pray knowing personally, that they belong to Jesus.
I have decided to shake myself free from the bondage of former friends who said that homeschooling, and nothing else, was the right way to educate. Rules that they wove together, with some help from things like Vision Forum, Scripture, and a lot of personal opinion. Great. Home schooling is right FOR YOU. Not for me. And there are no "rules" that say otherwise.