One homeschooler’s unlikely journey from growing up in rural Iowa to working with some of the biggest studios in Hollywood.

Growing up in the 1990s, the concept of homeschooling was still largely viewed through a lens

of skepticism with a heavy dose of pessimism. Many considered homeschooling to be a

disservice to children. “They won’t know how to talk to people!” “They won’t be able to get

into college!” “They’ll be ruined!”

I’ll never forget those awkward visits to the grocery store during school hours when the grocery

checker would ask the dreaded question, “Why aren’t you in school today?” After a moment of

palpable silence, I would mutter under my breath, “I’m homeschooled.” That response was

usually followed by a blank stare from the employee and some disinterested form of “Oh, is

that so?” No further questions, your honor.

Fast forward 25 years or so, people’s perceptions of homeschooling have changed dramatically,

thanks to a proven track record of overwhelming success.

As for me, I’m overwhelmingly grateful for my many years as a homeschooler back in the late

90s and early 2000s. Both of my parents worked (my dad as a full-time firefighter, my mom as a

part-time cosmetologist) and there wasn’t a large community of homeschooling families in our

small town, so it was not the obvious (or easy) choice for them to make at the time. But life is

not always full of easy and obvious choices. They made what they considered to be the best

decision for their three sons at the time, and I’m a blessed beneficiary of said choice.

One of the biggest blessings of homeschooling is being able to be the principal influence and

mentor in the lives of your own children. Teaching, training, disciplining, encouraging, raising

them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not an honor or

responsibility to be taken lightly! But it’s so worth the investment.

Each morning, we would get up and instinctively make our way to the living room to have time

in God’s Word together as a family. I wasn’t always excited for it (I wanted to sleep longer!), but

in retrospect, that was some of the most valuable time spent together as a family. It provided

the unshakable foundation on which the rest of my life has been built on, and you can’t

underestimate the importance of that.

Thanks to the freedom and flexibility of homeschooling, I learned how to teach myself (an

important and oft-forgotten quality!) and work quickly, so as to have time leftover to practice

and pursue the things I was interested in. Namely, filmmaking and music.

I diligently practiced the piano every day and made “movies” (I use that term very loosely) with

my brothers, learning the craft of filmmaking and simultaneously entertaining ourselves for

hours on end.

Believe it or not, that is exactly how I got my start in the industry that I now am working in full-

time as an actor and film composer. An unlikely career for an Iowan with no formal education in

filmmaking? I guess you could say that. But I certainly wasn’t going to let the unlikeliness of it

stand in my way. I was homeschooled for crying out loud! I never learned how to quit. It simply

wasn’t an option for me.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

(Proverbs 22:6)

Whenever I think of the importance of homeschooling, I think of this verse.

My parents trained me up in the way I should go, not only in a spiritual sense of the phrase

(obedience to God’s Word), but also in the ways God had gifted me and equipped me.

Homeschooling provided them with ample time to spot the talents and proclivities he had given

me and did everything they could to pave the way for me to pursue them (which should be the

goal of every parent!).

Was it easy for them to do so? Absolutely not. After all, the entertainment industry is fraught

with potential pitfalls, often creating content that is directly opposed to God and His Word. But

believe it or not, it is possible to be in the entertainment industry without compromising your

God-given standards and abandoning your faith. It requires a rock-solid Biblical foundation and

a strong community of fellow Christians who will help keep you accountable, but it absolutely is

possible.

But if you have a child who is interested in the arts, I encourage you to remember two things:

1.) God created art. Mankind has messed it up and twisted it in unspeakable ways, but the

original idea was God’s and He still uses art in powerful ways to communicate powerful truths.

2.) Where there is great darkness, there is always a great need for light. Hollywood is in

desperate need of light. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” is anything but

geographically limiting, and would most certainly include the soundstages and studios of Los

Angeles.

My wife and I decided to homeschool our own four children, and have recently begun that

journey with the oldest two. Although it certainly has its ups and downs (sharing the same

space with fellow sinners for extended periods of time isn’t for the faint of heart), but we

wouldn’t trade it for the world. Having the opportunity to pour into our children at all hours of

the day and take advantage of learning moments in “real time” is simply too good to pass up.

Can we as parents solely provide everything our children will ever need over the course of their

lifetime? No, of course not. That’s not the way the Body of Christ operates. None of us are the

whole package. We all need each other. However, homeschooling does allow us as parents to

establish the ever-so-important groundwork in the lives of our impressionable children. If we

don’t, rest assured the world that is directly opposed to God and His Word will.

To my fellow parents, if homeschooling is a struggle for you right now and you’re experiencing

some overwhelmingly difficult times in your life, please let me encourage you that your efforts

are not in vain. You’re investing in eternal souls, and that type of investment is never wasted.

“…let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”

(Hebrews 12:1-2)

If you have a son or daughter that is interested in some aspect of the arts (music, acting,

filmmaking, etc.), please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via my website contact page with

any questions or concerns you might have and I’ll do my best to answer/address them for you!

originally published in the August 2022 issue of Homeschool Indiana