I am writing this post in response to some who have asked in blog comments what I’m doing after high-school graduation and whether I will be going to college. First let me take a moment to share with you what the Lord has done in my heart toward college.

As I seek to draw closer to the Lord, I am always evaluating my decisions based on what the Bible says and also the fruit of a certain decision that I can observe in other people’s lives. In addition, I take heed my parents’ counsel. College would be what most would consider the next big step in my life.

“For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” (Luke 6:44)

As I thought about college and saw the negative fruit in the lives of many who have gone there, it was obvious to me that there were dangers and pitfalls in college that I would prefer to avoid. Seldom, if ever that I can recall, have I seen a young person go off to college and return exhibiting a higher level of spiritual maturity, or even the same level, at which he entered. Usually he has slid backwards – a lot or a little. It is my desire to stay pure, to wholly follow Him, and to not knowingly put myself in any place where I might fall. We have seen many young people go to college and come out totally different in a negative sense.

“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” (Proverbs 27:12)

Applying this verse to college, I see the dangers at college, and I want to protect myself from them.

“…wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” (Romans 16:19)

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

In colleges – even Christian colleges – so much of what is being taught is ungodly. It may seem harmless to read something that is unbiblical, thinking that I will just let it slide out of my mind. However it seems to me that in reality this is sowing bad seed with equally bad fruit. I don’t want to learn the things that are being taught in colleges. At home, I can learn what will profit me for my future and what will lead to my spiritual growth.

In our family, we are insatiable learners. Even after high school, we are constantly learning. Graduation is just a way point on the path of learning. We are always eager for new opportunities to grow our knowledge. We look for ways to serve, and many times God stretches us out of our comfort zone, which might involve learning something we would never have thought ourselves capable of learning. So, I may not go to college, but in every step of my life I am continuing to learn.

It also seems kind of silly for me to go to college, because I am so grateful that Mom and Dad saved me from many worldly influences by homeschooling me. Why would I then choose to expose myself to those influences my parents protected me from? We have seen young people who go to college and while in college they fall away from their faith and turn to the world. It is with much pleasure that I can thank Dad and Mom for blessing me with a wonderful education, an excellent teacher, and a pure environment to learn in. I am so blessed to be able to be in a family where they welcome and encourage us to stay at home after we graduate from high school!

All the above are reason enough for me not to want go to college, but I will add that it is my desire, if the Lord wills, to be a stay-at-home wife and mother someday.

“To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:5)

I don’t feel that a college degree would help me toward this desire. In fact, we have heard from some moms that their degree hindered them, in the beginning, from choosing to be a wife and mother. They went into college with a stay-at-home mindset, but then graduated and started to work. After all, they had invested heavily with their time and finances in a career-specific education and didn’t feel they wanted to waste that investment. In hindsight, they have shared their regrets with this detour from the direction they felt the Lord would have had for their lives.

Another reason why I am not attending college is because of the huge financial cost of college. It seems that it would be a waste of the Lord’s finances for me to go to college when I have no need for a college degree. I certainly wouldn’t want to go into debt for a degree. I have seen one of my sisters and four of my brothers excel in their adult professional lives without a college degree and without debt. I wish to follow in their foot steps.

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)

The Lord has filled what I have to do with my time so that it is flowing over the brim. I am busy helping with Titus2 order fulfillment plus learning Titus2 bookkeeping and other aspects of our ministry. I’m also helping at home, cleaning for my grandparents, assisting my brother’s family as needed, sewing, doing bookkeeping for Joseph and John’s business, practicing music, tackling other projects that come up, and have a couple of other things right now that I want to study as time allows!

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)

All of this to say I am not going to college but staying at home to bless my family and others in whatever way I can, grow spiritually, and learn in areas that will be useful for my future!

In Christ,
Anna

“Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7).