Life Nurturing Education

Everybody wants to be accepted. We try to find our niche, the place where we fit. Yet even when we’ve found our comfortable spot, the struggle with insecurity still rages. It growls at me when I think, “I don’t have any nice clothes to wear,” or “My house needs a makeover.” Then I hear roaring, “You are inadequate to teach your children. What if they rebel? What will people say then? No one understands you anyway.”

In our society, it is sometimes hard to silence the noise. We are surrounded on every side by images and expectations. There are pictures from idol makers, who say what we should look like, on television, the internet, and even the check out aisle at the grocery store. If you are not young, beautiful, and smart your value diminishes. The expectations to be the perfect super model mom are unrealistic. My ideal is not to be in vogue, but to become a woman of righteousness.

Then I add the whole issue of home schooling to the yelling. There aren’t many images in the media telling us what home school moms should look like, but there are plenty telling us what she does look like. Those negative pictures are of weary moms in frumpy clothes surrounded by piles of laundry, or horrifying images of insane mothers who killed their children. I fight against those stereotypes. Yet in my own mind, I have built an effigy of the perfectly organized, quietly patient, dynamically interesting, and stylishly groomed home school mom. I don’t know where this idea came from since I have yet to meet this lady, but it is an idol none the less.

To quiet the lies, I must replace them with truth. God’s plan is that I will be conformed to the image of Christ. It is not for me to decide if I’m worthy. Jesus already made that decision. He loves me weak as I am. The image He sets before me is a glimpse of His heart. Are my thoughts and intentions becoming more like His, or am I succumbing to the idols of the world? The unseen is harder to deal with because it can’t be covered with make-up or cleaned with a vacuum. It is delicate work to be done by the Holy Spirit, and He is faithfully working even now to make me like the One I worship.

When I read Anna Marie’s ideas to cultivate loveliness in her home, I was inspired to join her. First, I decided to look up the definition in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. Loveliness-Amiableness; qualities of body or mind that may excite love.

Who doesn’t want to encourage love? Here are the five things that I will do to bring loveliness to my body and mind this week:

1. Make my bed in the morning, and have my children do the same. The rest of the house is picked up. Really. Well, usually.
2. Finish my son’s mini scrapbook to celebrate the young man he is becoming.
3. Go to bed by 11:00 p.m. after working on my Bible study of Daniel. I have been staying up too late and tired isn’t very lovely.
4. Serve my husband his favorite dessert. That will excite love!
5. Invite my neighbor over in spite of the messes that follow children.

Thanks to Charming the Birds from the Trees for this Commitment to Loveliness.

As I begin to plan school for next year, I peruse my crammed bookshelves to see what I’ve already gathered. I have a stack of literature, curriculum, and even a new white board.

The books are wonderful: Treasure Island; Bach,The Boy from Thuringia; Tales from Shakespeare; and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. Curriculum includes RightStart Math, Intermediate Language Lessons, English from the Roots Up, The Mighty Works of God-Divine Providence, The Easy Spanish, and The Child’s Book of Nature. We also have a devotional, Small Talks on Big Questions, and I’m considering getting Noah Plan’s Walking with Jesus for Bible. Oh, and don’t I need a grammar book? I know that a stack of books does not equal education, but, somehow, I feel secure having a list of subjects to check off.

Looking at all these subjects I tend to get overwhelmed. Then I remember God has challenged me to renew my dependence on Him, and lessen my reliance on textbooks. Dependence on anything other than God leads to bondage. How many times have I tried to teach a lesson that has no life just to get school done? I have a tendency to plow through the textbooks and call that learning. However, the Creator who made us individually knows how we learn best. He will give me wisdom to infuse creativity into our lessons, if I’ll just ask.

So here I sit crying out for grace to use this curriculum as a reference for our lessons. The Bible is the source of truth, and the Holy Spirit is the guide to life. I want to walk through the valley of scope and sequence knowing that freedom.

While taking classes at The College of Southern Idaho, my husband and I attended a weekly Bible study led by Pastor Randy Davis. He started by teaching us logic; A cannot equal non A. We soaked it up!

I had been a Christian most of my life, but was not prepared for listening to Allen Ginsberg quote beatnik lyrics about smoking dope, or grappling with the noble savage concept in Cultural Anthropology class. I began to cling to my faith based on my experiences. If Christianity was true I needed a stronger foundation than feelings from church camp. Graciously and consistently Pastor Randy reasoned with us. I struggled to renew my mind as we learned about apologetics, evangelism, government, relationships, religions, and revival.

Then I began to observe the students at Liberty Christian Academy, the Principle Approach school started by Pastor Davis and his wife Diane. Those young people knew more Bible history than I did. They knew God as Providence in the founding of America. I wanted to understand what those kids were learning! My husband and I asked Pastor Randy to train us to be teachers. He replied, “I wish I could but I don’t have time right now. Consider going to Youth with a Mission.” He wanted to start a college to train teachers then. That was over ten years ago.

Now the vision of a college has been revived. Albion Christian College is beginning with the desire to impart truth to a generation raised in relativism. The reasoning needed to apply Biblical principles in this world requires diligent study. The opportunity to do that at college is incredible!

Please pray that God will bless the founding of this college in Southern Idaho. May solid foundations be laid for future generations.

I was blessed to attend Youth with a Mission’s Teachers for the Nations school in Tyler, TX. I don’t remember exactly how many nations were represented in my school, but we had quite a variety. My classmates were from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nepal, Latin America, and even Canada, of all places. They all came to the United States to study America’s Christian history. They wanted to understand the principles of liberty so they could impact their nations, not to turn them into America, but to fulfill God’s plan for their country.

I believe one of the misunderstanding about the Principle Approach is that it is just about America. Yes, there is a focus on the history of this country, but how can we love other nations until we love our own? Love is the only thing that will empower individuals to reach out to their neighbor. Love will inspire the study of history to see what God has done and is doing.

The individuals I studied with had a passion for their countries. They loved their nations so much they studied about the founding of America for a whole year, because they realized the liberty we have in this nation is from God. They knew that the best way to bless their neighbors was to learn where liberty comes from, how it spreads, and how to protect it.

Isaiah 9:7 says, “There will be no end to the increase of His government.” Christ’s government is not just for America. He is working in every tongue, tribe, and nation. Liberty is for everyone, first internally and then externally. I can’t wait to see were Christian self government will triumph again!

-originally posted on the bibleprinciples yahoo group-

“Education is concerned primarily with the use of life, not of things.” The Book of Life

God gave us life. He wants us to have abundant life full of meaning and purpose. Children may know how things work, have all the facts memorized, and graduate when they’re sixteen, but it’s more important for them to know how to live. Is life about making money and throwing parties, or is life building relationships and having liberty of conscience?

The blessing of home school is that we can focus on relationships. We discuss what it means to obey God. We consider the consequences of bad behavior. We learn how to think of others before ourselves. When the baby is hurt we comfort her. When it is time to pick up trails of toys, usually, everyone helps. When a countenance is downcast we pray. These are the things of life. Wisdom dictates that love be our motivation. My desire for my children’s education is that it will produce the peace and strength of character they need to live life full of overflowing love.

When I placed magnetic poetry strips together to read, “Seek life nurturing education,” I decided that fit my philosophy. Playing with my son turned into a blog title. Maybe learning really does happen best in relationships.

On Father’s Day I want to honor two special fathers. The first dad to praise is my own beloved husband. My husband teaches me about the awesome privilege and responsibility of parenthood. His passionate love for our children is revealed through consistent discipline, hilarious antics, and thoughtful teaching. My little family is blessed to have a God-fearing shepherd to lead us. There are many who do not have such a privilege.

At a young age, I began to understand what it means to have God as my Father. As His love saturated my heart, I knew I was valuable. The Creator who made me has love stronger than death. This Father is “a father to the fatherless and a judge for the widows.” Psalm 68:5

Many in this generation are fatherless. On this day of celebrating fathers I think of those who don’t know the love of a father, those who feel vulnerable, scared, alone. “God sets the lonely in families.” Psalm 68:6 We are those families. Jesus asked the little children to come. He asks us to do the same.