We have been married for twenty-seven years, and the Lord has truly blessed us with thirteen children in sixteen years. When we were first married, a man at church loaned us a vhs tape with Scott Hahn's conversion testimony on it, and that message contained a very earnest desire to not only give one's life unreservedly to Jesus, but to also to consider surrendering our fertility as well. As a result, the Lord was so good to us, and we soon became parents to a little boy, and then a little girl. We wanted the very best for our son and daughter and when looking through a stack of clearance books at a bookstore we happened upon a book called The How and Why of Home Schooling by Ray E. Ballman. Rebecca recalls reading that book and then following Greg around the house reading the book out loud to him! We agreed that we felt this was the best for our children, and Rebecca quickly checked out books by Raymond and Dorothy Moore from the public library to learn more and to read aloud to Greg; we felt in our hearts a definite call! To us, even though we knew no other homeschoolers, it was once again another part of surrendering to the Lord.
Soon thereafter we became concerned about the work prospects in Windsor, Ontario. As a result of us surrendering and committing to living from a single income and Mom staying home, we turned our thoughts to relocating to Alberta for a chance for Greg to get paid a little more, to work less overtime and be home more precious hours with our growing family. So, with the Lord's strength we moved to Alberta with six little ones and another tiny one in the womb, and landed in Leduc, to find a whole new place, with new values and a wonderful attitude towards homeschooling. Anytime we went anywhere with the kids, they proudly told strangers we homeschooled; to our surprise, instead of asking if homeschooling was legal, Albertans would smile and say that someone they knew or loved homeschooled. We felt we had truly come to a promised land!
We were however very intimidated by the legislation here, while in Ontario we were never required to report because we had always taken the responsibility to educate the children ourselves and never registered; when we came to Alberta we were intimidated to the point of fear. That is, until we heard about WISDOM from an online message board. We eagerly visited the website and began reading articles by Ken and Marlane Noster and other wonderful parents and our concerns began to melt away. The facilitator we were given was Paul, and we realised we didn't receive a critic but a support system, and another wealth of knowledge and experience, someone who was in touch with homeschooling because not only did he homeschool himself, but he supported many other families just like us. Throughout the ups and downs of homeschooling, our facilitator and the WISDOM Magazine are two valuable resources that really kept us on track when we doubted or became fearful or wondered if we were adequate to the task. Were we ever adequate? No, but the Father we love is! To quote Mother Teresa, “God has not called me to be successful. He called me to be faithful.” WISDOM has truly helped us and inspired us along the way to remain faithful to a call and find refreshment when we became tired. We are so grateful!
Rebecca & Greg Joncas
403-886-6994
homeschool_13@outlook.com