Thoughts on Raising "MK's"

Anyone who has known me for a long time knows I was not pro-homeschool. I was also thankful that our kids wouldn't be "MK's." That's the (old) term for missionary kids. Now the correct term is "TCK" which means third culture kid. Actually, I really do like that better. It describes their life a lot better. It is also used for kids who grow up in the military as well as children of expatriates. But anyway, I hadn't had very many positive experiences with either and so I wasn't very keen on going that route with our kids. As is true of most things with following God, when there's an area I'm not willing to submit, that's usually where He presses me the hardest. So Ty and I prayed about it and several years ago decided that indeed we were supposed to homeschool for this season. We take it year by year and are willing to do whatever God leads with their education, but for now that means teaching them ourselves. Then God called us into full time missions. He brought us far outside our comfort zone even though we remained in the US, and he placed us on an international team where regular travel is a given. We have always approached ministry as a family so when we began to walk the process with our organization we asked if we could travel as a family at least part of the time. That's important to us. We were given the green light and we couldn't be happier. 

We had done a bit of travel in country with the kids and loved it. Then we went to Europe on outreach for a month before/during Christmas and we were convinced as parents that this was for sure what we desired. We were hopeful that our kids also enjoyed being part of an outreach but weren't entirely sure. They always love meeting new friends and yet they also always have a hard time leaving whether it is leaving our home to travel, or leaving new friends to return home. So when we began to continue language arts in January with J, I did a brainstorming session to see if we could come up with a bit of a report from his perspective about our time in Europe. I taught him how to brainstorm with bubbles up on the whiteboard. He took to it immediately, filling the whole white board with his recollections in many little bubbles all connected.

Then, we took his memories and put them into a speech. I typed up in his words. He was going to share about his trip with his AWANA class. As we were typing it up, I got a glimpse into the heart of his reality. He stopped when I typed what he said about refugees and said "Mom, we're going to have to tell them what refugees are. My friends won't know."Wow! I realized that not only does he have the reality of what a refugee is, J also has the reality that this is different than many of his friends. Needless to say, he did a great job standing in front of his peers and sharing about the outreach. Since then, he has shared with several other churches and classes. He even shared at one of our morning prayer times at our office-in front of about 70 adults. I was out of state at the time and loved that a friend was texting how proud she was of him. I too am proud! 

Even more than proud though, I'm so thankful for the work we see in his life that is evidence of the Holy Spirit. We long for our kids to love Jesus with all their hearts and to willingly set aside what the world thinks to obey him. The funny part about all this is that I've realized it has nothing to do with homeschooling or even being an MK. As Ty and I have grown so much in our own walk with Jesus the last 5 years, we've learned how real that relationship is day by day. We've seen him become our all. And we so long for our kids to know the same from an early age. What I thought used to be set apart from culture due to school or ministry choice, I'm learning is more about being set apart to the Kingdom of God. We continue to pray that our kids will grow in wisdom and grace and love for Jesus and those around them and throughout the world now and in the future. Even if we put them into school. Even if they were no longer MK's. Actually, as I read a devotion by our Pastor from MN, it all sort of came together. He wrote about being fools for Christ (in light of April Fools on Palm Sunday). The gospel truly is foolishness to those who are perishing and we want to never conform to this world and fitting in for comfort's sake. We recognize many of our choices look foolish to many and that our kids have to pay that price as well. However, we rejoice when we see their hearts engage with God's Kingdom and that reality aside from it just being "mom and dad's job." We are blessed as we watch our children choose to love Jesus and follow him! We continue to pray for them as they walk a challenging road in today's world!


Here are a few pictures of a recent night of prayer we had at our office where our kids engaged too. It deserves a whole different post, but was another moment we saw God at work in their lives! 

Giant map to help us pray for the nations-the kids loved dancing over the countries praying for them by name

An area where people could write out declarations of praise to God. The kids loved this and we were humbled to see some of the thoughts God placed on their hearts