Life Is a Field Trip

CBN.com You know her as Blair, the rich and self-absorbed prep school princess of the '80s hit show The Facts of Life. Each week TV audiences were invited into the halls of Eastland Academy to meet Tootie, Jo, Natalie, Mrs. Garrett, and Blair. Here we shared a laugh, a few tears, and the facts of life.

LISA RYAN: I was surprised when I first met you how unlike Blair you are. Do people when they meet you expect you to be like Blair?

LISA WHELCHEL: I don't know what their expectations are. I do think, though, once we have a chance to talk, they realize that I am nothing like Blair. My mother would never let me get away with acting like Blair.

LISA RYAN: It seems as though we have seen so many childhood actors go bad. They grow and they get involved in drugs and alcohol and all kinds of different things. What kept you through all of that time?

LISA WHELCHEL: We are all born with an emptiness inside that is put there on purpose to be filled with a relationship with Jesus. I was so fortunate that that empty place was satisfied as a ten-year-old. I moved to California as a twelve-year-old, and then eventually I got on the Facts of Life. I was in the position that other child stars are in with the money and the access and the privileges and the fame to go down any path you want to go to look for something to satisfy you. I wasn't tempted to go down those paths, because I was already filled. I know that is what saved me.

In her newest book, the Facts of Life and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me, Lisa Whelchel uses her witty sense of humor and refreshing honesty to share how God has guided her from childhood stardom to her new roles of wife, mother of 3, home schooler, speaker, writer, and devoted woman of God.

LISA RYAN: How do you balance everything?

LISA WHELCHEL: I don't. There are times it feels like there is not one area in my life that I actually do well. I just try to do the best that I can in the areas that I feel the Lord is calling me to. I try to let go of some when I realize God is not blessing this and He may not be wanting me to do this and then have the courage to let go.

Lisa and her family have just wrapped up the road trip of a lifetime. Their yearlong RV trip has taken them across the U.S.A. They have traveled through some of America's most beautiful scenery. Lisa and her family have enjoyed what makes this country great.

LISA WHELCHEL: Welcome to our home sweet motor home.

LISA RYAN: Whoa, this is not camping the way that I used to remember it as a kid.

LISA WHELCHEL: No, this not camping. I don't do camping.

LISA RYAN: You home school. Where do you keep all of that stuff?

LISA WHELCHEL: In all of these cabinets. Everything has a place to get stuffed.

LISA RYAN: You keep it all in here? Has it been hard consolidating, bringing everything down to small quarters?

LISA WHELCHEL: Yes, that's why we are not going to the back bedroom, because everything else is shoved back there.

LISA RYAN: Ah-ha! We all have a back bedroom. Has this been like the dream vacation you thought it would be, or have there been moments when you wanted to strangle each other?

LISA WHELCHEL: We have those moments at home, so it's not a big difference. Believe it or not, this has been easier and more fun than we dreamed it would be.

LISA RYAN: This is great. I have to tell you that this is kind of a like a secret desire for our family, so I am really checking out how this is possible.

This yearlong RV trip has also been an exciting field trip. Lisa and her kids have studied history and science at museums and national parks they have visited.

LISA RYAN: You have been home schooling your children several years before you came on this trip. Now you are on the road full time, 24-7, and it will be 365 days by the time you are done -- and you are home schooling. How do you manage all of that, the home schooling and the practical aspects of educating your kids, on the road or at home?

LISA WHELCHEL: Again, you have to let some things go, kind of give and take. This year we are motor home schooling.

LISA RYAN: I like that, literally life is a field trip.

LISA WHELCHEL: That's right, exactly. We are doing math and language arts every day. Other than that, we are going to science museums and history museums, and we are doing some read aloud books. That is covering the rest of the curriculum. When we get home, it will be different

LISA RYAN: Do you think anyone can home school?

LISA WHELCHEL: Probably not. I don't think that everyone should home school. I am thankful for our family that we have been able to home school. I thought that being a stay-at-home mom was the end all and what God had called me to. I assumed that meant for the rest of my life. I was as surprised as anyone and many tears were shed when He called me back into the work field. Even part-time writing books and speaking takes me away from the kids. I went kicking and screaming, but you just have to be really careful before you put God in a box. It's not stay-at-home mom. It's not working mom. It's not public school, Christian school, or home school. It is obeying what God has called you to do and having the peace to know what that is.