What happens to a homeschool mom’s passions — the career, the degree, the dream — when she lays them down to teach her kids at home? In this episode of Everyday Educator, host Lisa Bailey sits down with Maria Wilkening — a mom of four who has graduated all her children through Challenge 4 and now serves on the Classical Conversations communications team — and Kelli Wilt — a former classroom teacher now on her final lap of homeschooling — to talk about where God-given passions come from and what He does with the ones we set aside.
Kelli shares how she went from telling her first education professor she was only there because her mom made her to spending the last five years developing the sixth edition of the Foundations curriculum — and how God used every step along the way. Maria explains how she fell in love with classical education before she ever planned to homeschool, why one mom-to-mom moment at a CC community day sold her on community, and how, as a single mom, God opened a door on CC’s communications team — and later to a Master of Arts in Classical Studies through Southeastern University (SEU), the degree she’d set aside years before. They also unpack how practicing our gifts fans the flame and why the goal of classical Christian education is virtue: to know God and to make Him known.
If you’ve ever looked at your homeschool days and wondered, “Lord, what was all that for?” — take heart. As Kelli puts it, God does not give a passion without a purpose. Grab a cup of something warm (and maybe a tissue), and pass this one along to a friend who needs the reminder that He hasn’t forgotten her dreams.
This episode of Everyday Educator is sponsored by White Thorn Events’ presentation of Ballet Magnificat’s performance of The Call – based on Elisabeth Elliot’s best-selling book, Through Gates of Splendor.
This worldwide livestream gives audiences around the world the opportunity to experience one of the most impactful productions ever created by Ballet Magnificat! from the comfort of their own home. The Call tells the unforgettable true story of missionaries who gave their lives while bringing the Gospel to the Waorani people of Ecuador in 1956 and the timeless message of faith, courage, forgiveness, and the life-changing power of the Gospel.
Watch anytime between March 7th – 14th, 2027