Rebekah's Insights

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Happy New Year! Wow! I am still getting used to writing 2008! It always takes me most of January to adjust! LOL!

Anyway, with the happy occasion of family visiting us through the first week or so of the new year, I am delayed in getting a jump on the New Year plans. What a lovely reason to delay! :) We are now hopefully past the getting sick nearly EVERY week stage of our big move! I look forward to being able to get back into the rhythm of our routine. This new energy has inspired me to reevaluate our homeschool organization and vision among other things.

As a homeschooled high-school student and already interested in teaching as a profession, I attended a local homeschool curriculum fair. There were a few Mennonite consultants at the "Rod and Staff" table who had made available copies of their own personal philosophy of education. While far from comprehensive in its scope and sequence, there was a Biblical focus and simplicity which appealed to me then and inspires me to this day, some fifteen years later. I truly wish I knew to whom to attribute the germ of these ideas, but with no published documentation, I cannot. But here is the main thought it conveyed and subsequent inspiration to me:

After relating the account of Jesus’ birth and early childhood, the final verse of the second chapter of the book of Luke reads this way,

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52 RSV

The writer of this philosophy asserted that if our goal as Believers is to raise our children in Christ’s likeness, then this account of His growth seems to provide some instruction. Interestingly, the areas of growth mentioned correspond to four of the commonly accepted dimensions of personal growth from worldly wisdom and which one hears a lot about when studying in the field of education:

Wisdom = intellectual/mental
Stature = physical
Favor with God = spiritual
Favor with man = relational/emotional

Now, let me just say that without doing a study on Greek word usage, I would personally not assert that the intention of this verse was to provide instruction on the areas of growth. It is because of this that I would not call that verse the driving force of my call as a mother and homeschooling parent. However, it motivated me at a young age to take an even greater interest in education and its critical role in raising children in the nurture and admonition of the LORD. As I studied educational theory through college and graduate school I learned a great many ideas—some of which I discarded as contrary to the teaching of the Bible, but others made much sense to me in light of Scripture. I believe that the above mentioned areas of personal growth are all capacities which we were given by God—a mind/brain, a body, a spirit, and feelings/emotions/relationships with others.

While I firmly believe that from the eternal vantage point, all areas except spiritual are fleeting and are ultimately of lesser importance (i.e., Genesis 3:19, “…you are dust and to dust you shall return”) I also believe that as stewards of ALL God has entrusted to us, we are to be good stewards of our minds, bodies, and emotions. Indeed, I feel vast passages of Scripture address these other facets of development, but it is made clear that spiritual growth is of the greatest importance.

Anyone may plainly see that we spend a great deal of time with our three and one-year-olds in addressing spiritual needs and instruction in Scripture. We feel that our primary calling in raising our children is to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4) This is to be the all-consuming activity of our parenting as is expressed in Deuteronomy 6:7, “…and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” In order to do this we must endeavor to have this focus permeate all we do at all times—as we work, and cook, and play, and EVERYTHING! (Incidentally, this is also why I feel called to homeschool my children, since it allows them to be present with me during all of those times of the day.) We will certainly never be perfect at it, yet it SHOULD be the goal for which we ever strive! LIKEWISE, the ways in which we nurture the physical, emotional/relational, and intellectual growth of our children may also be the practical steps of living out this instruction. One example is that if I hope to instruct my children in God’s Word and encourage them to return to it often as they grow, then the priority I place on teaching them to read fluently so they may READ God’s Word is of GREAT importance. Additional practical applications abound. :)

So it is with renewed vision and vigor that we begin the second half of Liam’s Preschool year! Aine is gleaning much from many books and participating with Liam. :) I count it all great joy to watch them grow and change and learn and it is my fervent prayer that He who formed them is working within them each moment to bring them to a redeeming faith in Jesus Christ.

I must go now! With my third load of laundry washing and lunch at the ready, a bookshelf of books for “M” week is calling to me! Look for a recurring post on Saturdays for school updates. Enjoy your week!