The Moment I Knew

A Series I Never Thought I'd Write - Pt.1

Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing a multi-part series that will include life and family updates, reflections on long-time mothering and home education, and will culminate with all the details of the living book series I'm writing for your middle-grade children, launching next year.

This Substack series serves as a way to communicate a new season for our family, to connect with the beautiful community—some of whom have followed our journey for nearly two decades—and to mark this moment with words, reflecting on what God has done, what I’m leaving behind, and what I’m carrying into the next season.

"Change in all things is sweet." —Aristotle

Next month marks 27 years since a seed was planted in me about home education. At the time, I was a single, zealous young woman on a year-long Christian discipleship programme in St. Louis, Missouri, with little desire to marry or have children anytime soon. I planned to change the world for Jesus on the mission field, and if the Lord brought my husband along the way, so be it!

That year, I encountered home educators and families with a passion for life alongside their children, and they left a profound mark on me. Little did I know then what that seed would grow into.

Dave Boden

has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember (or so our parents tell us), though often in the background. Our two families attended church together when we were babies and young children, and our paths would occasionally cross. As we grew into our late teens and adulthood, I began to notice him 😉, and it turns out he noticed me too!

The summer after my year in the States, we both worked and led at a youth camp, and that was when our lives took a new direction. I’m unsure how he did it, but he quickly became my favourite person. Our treasured friendship blossomed into love, leading to a proposal in a Welsh castle and a winter wedding.

Soon, a daughter and a son were in our arms and home, and we were figuring out how to be married, be parents, and be grown-ups all at once! My year in the States had a significant impact on me—both positive and negative. Even years later, I had some unlearning and re-forming to do, but so much good and growth had come from that time too. What I once thought would be a life on the overseas mission field became the greatest mission I’d ever be a part of—in my neighbourhood, in my home, with my husband and children.

We set up life in a suburb of our adopted city, living just doors and streets away from fellow young families who were also serving Jesus and building a church community together. The local primary school was a five-minute walk from our house—a perfect setup for young families!

We applied for our daughter’s nursery place (pre-K), which was a feeder into reception year (kindergarten). She got a place. We bought the red sweater, the red book bag, and the new shiny shoes, eagerly awaiting her September start.

The day finally came—dressed like the rest, after breakfast and prayer, we set off hand in hand on the short walk to school. I think I passed four homes on our street when a thought suddenly popped into my head: "I didn’t want to do this." Conversations, meetings with families, and that seed planted years ago all resurfaced on that late summer day, setting us on a path that would transform our lives.

What I appreciate and am so grateful for in our decision to embrace home education is that it wasn’t triggered by a bad experience with school, a reaction to “the system,” or a viral trend (there was no social media back then). We felt no pressure, just a nudge to explore, meet with the one or two families we knew who were home educating, and pray.

You can read more about our beginnings in my book, Modern Miss Mason, but after nearly two years of reading, researching, not being on the same page, then finding common ground, questioning our decision, and Dave needing a new job that came just in the nick of time, and so much answered prayer…we began formally educating our children in a tiny home, with virtually no garden, no big budget, with a newborn (Boden baby no. 3) in my arms, and six pink books called The Home Education Series by Charlotte Mason.

Leah x