We first learned about the tax credit scholarship program when our oldest son — now an 18-year-old freshman at GCU — was getting ready to start kindergarten. At the time, private Christian school felt out of reach: I was a stay-at-home mom, and my husband, a real estate agent, was in the middle of the oncoming recession. Friends told us we could actually afford it because of the tax credit, and we were amazed that private school suddenly became a possibility for our family.

We were so surprised by how many people didn’t understand that it’s a tax credit, not a straight donation, that we made it our mission to educate others about it — whether or not they designated our sons as recipients. If understanding the program helped even one more family send their child to the Christian school of their choice, that was a win.

Not long after, I went back to work teaching at the private school my two boys attended. It became a wonderful platform to tell other families, grandparents, and single moms about this program. I always joke that I’m a teacher at a private school, which means I technically can’t afford private school — but thanks to the tax credit, my own kids could attend.

We are now fourteen years into having at least one child in private Christian school, and the tax credit has covered their full tuition for their entire school careers. It’s been an astronomical blessing. My sons attended a high school small enough — under 500 students — that they could play basketball, run track and cross country, join band, and do robotics, opportunities they likely wouldn’t have had at the 3,500-plus student public high school down the street.

But the biggest blessing of all has been the teachers who have fed into our sons’ lives — showing them Christ, challenging and encouraging them, coming to their birthday parties, praying with them, answering life’s hard questions. Fourteen years ago, we never could have understood that having so many people pour into our boys’ faith journeys would be the most amazing blessing of this whole experience. We’re grateful this tax credit allowed us, in partnership with an amazing Christian school, to set a strong foundation for our two sons.