School Life at Home

This time of year the controversy between home school, public school, private school, and fill-in-the-blank school comes to a head.  Today's blog is different than some.  We shared a challenge at our home last night  and I wanted to encourage parents and students that God is working in and through us, that life is ministry, no matter where we are.

My husband and I are intentional about sending our children to public school (you can read more in the page on this blog, "To Tango with a Teacher").  However, we do not oppose the idea or practice of homeschooling.  As a certified teacher, I have supervised homeschooling families for the last 15 years.

That said, let me share some of what God is doing in our youngest daughter's life in public school. 

Yesterday was the first day of the year.  She came home from fifth grade happy and excited.  She'd even finished her homework on the bus.  Yay, God!  But around suppertime there was conflict which led to a complete meltdown.  Remember Elijah?  The root of her reaction was that she felt left out and unfriended at school.  I'm sure there are real reasons (we all struggle with a sinful nature) and spiritual reasons.

What began in tears opened an opportunity to visit with her about God's view of friendship.  Those of us who belong to God don't "need" people.  We love them.  When we realize how much God loves and values and treasures us, we don't live or die based on the approval of others.  We are already approved.  So instead of living to be noticed and liked by others, we live knowing we are noticed and loved by God and we can love people.  No strings attached.  (Thank you, Ed Welch, author of When God is Big and People are Small and Lou Priolo, author of Pleasing People).

It's something she and I worked on this summer with her sisters, but now she's in a different playing field and is learning to think about loving others the way God does.

It wasn't until we were on our way home from church that the "Elijah" piece came together.
She was nearly jumping in the backseat after leaving church, "Mom!  I got two tracts at church tonight.  Now I can give one to Chloe at school tomorrow!"
"Why Chloe?"
"Because yesterday in line she said her grandma died and she wondered where she went.  She said she wants to go to heaven, but doesn't know if she will.  I told her I know I'm going. And I told her how she can know, too!"
So that was it!  Spiritual victory often gives way to emotional and physical fatigue.  Perhaps that is why other pieces of the day hit hard and left her feeling blue.  And that's okay.  God is at work and she is laying up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.  Once again, God has blessed us and we are grateful.
What a wonderful picture of God working in our childrens' lives--and ours.

Please leave a story of your own to encourage others or thoughts about your child's growth in their school environment.  I'd love to hear you brag on God!

Waiting

This morning I stood in the door frame waiting for our 16-year-old daughter to get situated and pull out of the garage on her first day of school this year.  She didn't need my help.  I didn't have anything more to say or encourage or suggest.  But she looked to see if I was watching.  She just wanted to know I was there. 

Many, many times over the years God has worked to teach me the value of waiting and this morning, I realized why waiting is so difficult.  It's difficult because of me. 

If I wait things may not turn out the way I want them.  If I wait, I am not doing the thing I want to do, I'm doing what someone else wants to do.  When I wait, I rarely see an immediate benefit, which is generally annoying, irritating, frustrating--especially if I haven't "agreed" to wait (i.e. the "shortest" line at the grocery store which takes the longest amount of time).

But waiting expresses value--a confidence, an affection.  It is the giving of me for you; my way for yours.  It is submission to the will of another. It is beautiful.  It is Christlike.  It is the way of God.  No matter the circumstance, I am ultimately waiting on God.  Whether I'm waiting for Him to move the line or give wisdom or answer a prayer, my willingness to wait and depend on Him is the way of Christ.  It is an echo of His prayer, "Not my will, but thine be done."

What are you waiting for?  Is your heart quieted and content in the lap of God?  Or are you clamoring for more?

"O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
² Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
³ O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever."  Psalm 131

Confessions of an Enthusiast

If you're married, you probably found there are times your spouse catches you off guard--even though you know better. One of David's first glimpses into my desire for and execution of ideas was when I insisted we have a pool with goldfish inside the church for our wedding.  If we were going to walk over the arched, white-washed bridge, we needed water, rocks, live plants and goldfish!  I know he really didn't want to tote in the truckload of rocks to line the pool on either side, set up tarps, plants, and settle the goldfish, but he did. What a wonderful husband!  And a wonderful memory.

It's been 23 years and my enthusiasm still stretches him--and gets me into things I haven't totally thought through.  So here's a public confession and apology to our fellow youth workers after last night's meeting.  I see a vision.  I get excited.  I know just how it could be done.  And, at least for a time, I cast that vision one way and another and another.  It's so real.  It's so amazing.  It's so do-able.  It's so....  Ahhh, and the next morning reality hits as I struggle to get out of bed and do the tasks that belong to today. 

This morning, before coffee, I wondered how I could be excited about anything.  After the first cup I struggled with how to do what needed to be done now, today.  By the time I drained the second cup, clothes had been gathered, wash started, beds made, dishes done and I was praying for those who patiently listened to and considered the wonderful ideas we tossed around, knowing their plates are much more full than mine.

Now that I've had time in the Bible, my heart and mind are more settled and I have hope.  This is what I read in Matthew chapter 1 this morning:  "So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord" (v. 22).  Matthew was writing about the beginning of Jesus' earthly life--his conception, the state of Israel and the set up of Joseph and Mary's circumstances.  Their lives were turned upside down by Jesus' coming.  Their circumstances appeared out of control--and they were (out of their control--aren't they always?).  But God knew.  He was working His plan.

The take away?  There is nothing I can do apart from God's purpose and plan.  He will bring about exactly what He has in mind--and I hope to be part of it--but it doesn't depend on my ideas or my efforts or my limitations. And those things we talked about and got excited about and wondered about last night will happen just as God intends.  How that removes the pressure, the weight, the fear of criticism, the frustration.  God has done.  God is doing.  God will do.  And we are blessed to be a part.

God said, "Let their be light."  And there was light.  But His Word in our hearts is accomplished on a much different time frame.  May we be true to His Word, faithful and obedient servants who love Him with the excitement and enthusiasm He deserves.

Are you an enthusiast or do you live/work with one?  Would you be willing to share how God is using it in your life?