Standing Vigil

September 2002

vig-il n. A period of alert watchfulness during normal sleeping hours.

Wives: tear out this letter and put it on the top of your husband's underwear drawer. I am chagrined to find that my monthly letter does not get this treatment on a regular basis - but this one is a must read for heads of home schooling households.

As CHEACT continues its transformation from local to regional support group, we are beginning to plan the best way to approach the first stated part of our mission: "To safeguard... home schooling that glorifies God in central Texas…." Indeed much of the restructuring we have gone through over the past year and a half was to bring us to this point.

Part of the fulfillment of this mission is to promote and support other organizations that are already in place. Unless the direction of one of these groups changes, we will continue to support the Home School Legal Defense Organization (www.hslda.org) for their role in watching our national government with respect to issues that concern home schooling and home school families. Likewise, we support the Texas Home School Coalition (www.thsc.org) for their diligence in watching state government officials and agencies, ensuring that home schooling remains free in Texas. Both of these organizations recognize the importance of a symbiotic relationship with us, which is why they each give a discount to CHEACT member families. Additionally, CHEACT has a "reciprocal agreement" with THSC, formalizing our partnership in this endeavor.

But the launch pad for future state and national elected officials is completely under the radar of these two organizations. These are the city and county officials who can either help open up opportunity for home school students and graduates, or can send us back underground, forcing us to make tough decisions between obeying the laws of men or the laws of God. Men, which do you prefer? Perhaps your home school is largely your wife's domain. In my home, my wife administers most of the day-to-day academics. But it is clearly a father's role to stand vigil over our family freedoms. Will you take your post and stand vigil over central Texas to keep our educational choice free and legal?

I applaud the work that groups such as GCHE, individuals who are involved in the party process and those running for local and county offices do in this arena already. But as a whole, the better part of our region remains unguarded and highly susceptible to infiltration by forces that would oppose our freedoms. Today's local and regional politicians are tomorrow's state and national leaders. We need to get home school friendly candidates into local and regional offices, or we will pay for it in the years to come. There is absolutely no way HSLDA or THSC can directly affect this breeding ground. They are too far removed. This hill is ours to take.

Many of you have been involved in this process for years. Most of us, however, have never been involved beyond the voting booth. While that is critical, there is much more that we can do, and (I love this part) train our children as we go. CHEACT is a 501(c)(3) Texas corporation. As such, we may not endorse specific candidates using CHEACT resources. But there are plenty of things that we can do, and as individual concerned citizens there are no restrictions.

As you are aware, home schools in Texas must teach a course in Good Citizenship. Most of you received a brochure in the mail a few months back from THSC announcing a new Good Citizenship Certificate program for our kids. It says,

"The advantage that Texas home school families have today in teaching good citizenship is the same advantage that they have in many other academic areas. They can teach in the real world. Rather than simply citing dry statistics and flow charts, parents can help their children learn through a hands-on method by taking part in actual governmental processes." (To learn more about the awards program and to read the full text of the article, go to: http://www.thsc.org/banquet/good_citizenship.asp)

Men, now is the time for us and our families to get involved. These next two months before the general election in November offer a unique window of opportunity to stand vigil with and over our families. While there are numerous ways to plug in throughout the year, these next two months are a critical time to register like-minded voters, investigate where candidates stand on our issues and throw our weight behind a worthy candidate's campaign. There are plenty of things we can do as families, like talk to our neighbors and fellow church members, make phone calls, lick envelopes and pound signs into the ground.

To find out which issues are important to home school freedoms, specific ways to get involved and creative ways to find out where candidates really stand; CHEACT will be hosting a "Standing Vigil" meeting on Thursday, September 19th. The meeting will be at Calvary Worship Center, located just south of Wells Branch Parkway on Surrender Avenue (west of I-35). We will start promptly at 7pm. Mark this on your calendar right now, and check the CHEACT web site for any late-breaking details… I look forward to seeing each of you there.

Remember ladies: To the Underwear Drawer!

Blessings,

Brett

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