Nineteen years ago, I was faced with a nearly impossible challenge: Assume responsibility for my children’s education.
I was not an educator by degree. Yet, my husband and I felt called to homeschooling, at least for that year. He had a demanding job that required travel four days each week. We wanted to hold our family together.
My biggest concern: what if I missed something? What if I forgot to teach fractions? I quickly learned there are boxed curriculum sets I could purchase to alleviate those fears. I ran a rigorously academic homeschool. We covered the core subjects, added foreign language from the start, and were certain not to skip electives like music, art, and team sports. The girls knew they were expected to give their best in everything they did. But I also told them, “The most important test will be when you decide who you are and who you want to be.”
I could teach them fluency in a foreign language, have a budding Picasso on hand or see my child excel in science to find a cure to cancer, but if she were not a person of character, and in our family that meant Christian character, loving and serving Christ, I would not have felt successful.
Nineteen years later, I am now a professional educator with a Masters degree in education. And I still feel the same. Oh, education is vital. We need informed citizens who can problem-solve and think for themselves.
We also desperately need people of character.
Proverbs 22:6 is a verse that scared me a bit back in my early days of parenting. “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.” That sounds simple enough. Yet, even back then, I had enough life experience to know children raised in good homes who made very different choices.
But my job as a mom was not to ensure the choices they made, but to lay the foundation for faith. And to that end, I tried my very best. Beginning each day with Bible study, prayer and a discussion at the breakfast table with even the smallest of children. Just as importantly, they also saw an imperfect mom who needed to apologize when she made mistakes. I could point to God’s promises and testify to His grace.
Today, two of our three are adults. It was harrowing at times, but each has found her way.
For any parent, grandparent, or trusted adult living under the burden of belief that a child’s education and their foundation of faith rests on you, know this: God is faithful.
If you ask, He will provide what you need. Not just the how-to’s, but also the discernment of what each child needs. As a parent I learned my responsibility is to help lay the foundation. It is up to each child to decide whether to build upon it. I can teach the Bible, pray with them, and demonstrate how to repent, pray and accept God’s grace. Then the decision to follow Christ rests on the child. I pray for her. I then need to trust God has her.
He loves each child more than we do. He will allow them to make their own choices. But He is also there, walking alongside each step.
He will provide what each child, and each adult teacher needs. We just need to ask for his help. Won’t you join me in asking for just that?
Prayer: Dear Lord, You know all the parents, grandparents, and adults who carry a burden for a child. Lord, please provide wisdom and insight, and then peace for each adult as they try to help lay a foundation for faith and education for children. You promise to supply our needs. You promise to never leave us alone. Help us trust in you as we seek your help to raise your children. In Jesus’s name, Amen.