They Got It...Right

 

Our teenagers “got it” right?  After all, we mastered Awana (Cubbies to T&T with the Timothy Award to show for it!).  We took them to church, each and every week.  We even hosted the Bible Bee competition and spent our summer breaks with scripture memory and in-depth inductive Bible study around family bonfires. We started out of the gate running this faith race strong.  Certainly, all our efforts resulted in success. So… they got it, right?  They got our faith…they must have.  We did all the “right” things, right?! I’m learning this lesson over and over myself.  Our children run their own race to a living relationship with the Lord.  Yes, God gives us an important role to play. We get to set a spiritual table before them and invite them to the feast.  We carry the responsibilities as parents to raise them in the “fear and admonition of the Lord”.  But, as a preacher once said, “God has no grandchildren”. OUR faith is not enough to pass the baton of faith to them and give them THEIR faith. Homeschooling is not enough to assure them their faith either.  Sure, it’s a wonderful way to create a greenhouse like environment for their faith to germinate in, and a safe place for tender plants to begin to grow.  Really, I don’t believe there is any better way!  I want to encourage you - don’t stop tending those tender shoots yet.  Don’t make any assumptions that “they got it” - just because you did all the right things in their younger years.  They may have prayed a salvation prayer, or won all the scripture memory awards, or came home from summer camp still damp-headed from a lake baptism.  Don’t stop daily discipling them!  Let me go a step further, I believe that the high school years are the prime time for them to BEGIN to make faith their own.  Yep, I said “begin”.  This is the time when they are developmentally able to make these types of life influencing decisions.  I rejoiced with each step toward God that my young children took.  But it’s when they started taking those faltering first steps into adulthood that I could begin to really see if they “got it”. These years are when they are moving “from innocence to holiness”, a phrase my husband has coined.  They are transitioning from knowing “Jesus Loves Me” and the simple faith of a child to “Yes, I know” and the life-altering decisions that accompany maturity.  It’s a vital stage in the development of their faith.  It’s when we begin to see the fruit of a living relationship with the almighty God.  And, as much as we would love to be able to, it’s not something we can manufacture.  We can only be their coaches and cheerleaders in this race as they run it. Too often, we let the “more important” subjects cut in and take precedence over our intentional faith developing studies when our students get to high school age. We comfort ourselves with thoughts “they got it”, right? The rigors of upper-level classes frequently move their daily quiet-times and intentional Bible studies to a back burner.  Do not give up!  Keep setting the spiritual table before them. This means keep prioritizing the Word in your school schedule and in your daily routines.  Keep on doing it alongside them until you witness them doing it alone - and then, keep studying the Bible together (It will be one of your greatest joys!).  Take it a step further, and make the focus on worldview, apologetics, and scripture memory take precedence over “lesser subjects” like geometry, physics, and dual credit.  Don’t miss these final years with your children to make an eternal impact! Oh…one more thing.  Our teenagers are masters at manipulation, and they can spot a counterfeit a mile away. So, if you are not practicing what you preach - you’re busted.  Take the time to model for them what this living, breathing, active and powerful faith looks like.  Make sure they see the priority the Word takes in your life and decisions you make.  Then, never stop praying and interceding for them as they run their race! Blessings, Renita “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” - Galatians 5:7

Your Homeschool Table – What are you Serving?

Homeschooling can be a bit like planning the menu and setting a table before our families. We all have a deep desire to make it an appealing, nutritious, and satisfying meal that EVERYONE will enjoy.

I may need to remind you, not everyone at your table likes the same things…. I know it’s almost comical to say it. OF course, they don’t!

My earlier homeschool table looked a bit like a medieval feast - with HUGE dishes of steaming hot math problems, and well-cooked portions of language arts. Since I’ve never been one to be a minimalist in the food area, so I also heaped on the delectable side dishes of leafy green science covered with thick creamy sauces of history and geography. Not to mention a variety of spicy additions to the table like Spanish, Latin, and Greek - just to flavor it all.  Of course, no one would want to miss out on any of the delicious desserts of delight-driven unit studies! There was so much to choose from, and I didn’t want to miss any of it!

All this curriculum consumption left my students sitting at our homeschool table, stuffed like a Christmas goose but not savoring a single bite! The table was full, and the meal was certainly “meaty”. A single glance at their faces told me that this wasn’t what they were hungry for!

Over time, our homeschool table evolved into more of a fast-food buffet at the kitchen counter during their high school days.  We threw out some quickly microwaved math with online grading, some co-op concocted literary analysis, and generous helpings of college dual credit classes.  We ate it while on the run to activities, sports, and part-time jobs.  We forgot how to even set the table and family meals gathered sitting down all together became a distant memory.

Lately, we’ve been re-discovering the delights of homeschooling (and eating) together.  But, not with super-sized portions, the hurry, and the over laden table.  Instead, we are learning to put a little less on our plates, while we linger a little longer and enjoy the company. 

We’re also tuning into what each of our children really need to have to function at their prime.  For instance, if I eat a bunch of carbs and sugar - I’m a complete mess.  Likewise, not all our children need to learn the same things at the same time.  Some students may be ready for academic challenges, but some may benefit more from time spent developing deep family connections. It’s the beauty of the homeschool table, we get to choose what is best for them to consume! 

We are re-learning how to set the table in our learning as well.  We are discovering the delight of days spent together with a less hurried approach. We are taking turns preparing and cooking the meals - and everyone is learning new life, kitchen, and study skills as we do it! 

We are making wiser choices with which subjects satisfy without leaving us stuffed. We streamlined our school schedule to make sure we are meeting our educational and our emotional needs.  We have been realizing that we can experiment with different textures and flavors of learning, like internships and building projects with true satisfaction. We are consuming less and savoring each bite more. 

In homeschooling, and in life, sometimes LESS is MORE.  This is what we have been discovering lately around our table, and aren’t most of the best lessons in life learned around a table?

Blessings,

Renita

 

“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.” - Isaiah 55:2