Home School Vs. Public School

My son is getting ready to turn 3 in a couple weeks. I know we still have a couple years before he will start school, but it's never to early to start thinking about the decisions that have to be made.  Now, before I actually had kids I said I would never home school them, but now I'm leaning in the direction of home schooling our son.  My husband & I are kind of on the fence about the whole issue.  We would love to home school him due to how crazy the world is these days, but then again we want him to experience public school like we both did, have friends, etc.  However, neither of us feel as if public school is the same anymore.  There is no more cute little prayers before lunch, no more Pledge of Allegiance to start off the school day, the public school system is teaching children things we do not believe in, and it seems as though innocence (being faced with & taught issues that are over their head) is lost earlier in the public school system. I realize that we cannot protect him forever, I know one day he will have to face the "real world", but as a parent I want to shelter him from all the horrible things in the world.  Part of me knows that if we teach him the right things at home that he will be able to decipher the truth & stand for what he believes in.  I want him to be his own person, but I want him to stay my sweet, innocent little boy forever. Ahhh, being a parent is so hard.  Home School costs a lot of money, from my research anyway (of course public school is just as expensive with all the lunch money, field trip money, money for this, money for that, fundraisers, book fairs, this & that).  Then I also have the thought that if we take all the Christians out of the school system, then what about the friends & classmates that could be impacted & taught the love of Jesus though them.  I don't want to think & feel that I am responsible for withholding the love of Jesus from someone because I choose to keep my child from going to public school.  will be here).  Then again, I personally know how easy it is to get caught up in the wrong crowd & stray from God & His will. Of course all those wrongs I made taught me excellent life lessons (if I would have only listened to my mama & daddy, they were much smarter than I gave them credit for), but of course I want to teach my son the lessons I had to learn the hard way.

So my brain doesn't really know which way is up right now concerning this issue. I have prayed about this decision (not as hard as I should, but I'm stepping it up, now that it's hit me how fast it will be here). I'm not sure what God wants us to do yet, I know He will guide us to do his will, and He will make us aware of what we should do in His time.  So until He shows us the way, we will continue to pray, research, & discuss how we feel about it.  I still cannot believe how big our "baby" is!!