It seems like a great idea when it applies to me. When I apply it to my children, I feel a little annoyed. Here is the Bible verse I’m talking about:
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
When I read the verse and think about how it applies to me, it makes me pretty happy. I think about all the work I did while I was homeschooling, and how it prepared me for this job. I think about all the experiences I’ve had, and how I can apply those to fit different needs for different homeschoolers.
But when I take that Bible verse and apply it to my children, suddenly my perspective changes. Because God has created them to do good works, too. And he prepared them in advance, like he did me. But the end result is completely different than the end result of my experience. They have to do THEIR thing. They will be prepared differently than I was. They are God’s workmanship, but it feels like he used completely different tools!
Parents often understand how to get from here to there – where we are, to where we are going. But we don’t always understand exactly where our children will end up, or how to get them there. Unfortunately, some of those annoying habits and frustrating experiences, and possibly some failures along the way, are all means to prepare our child for their OWN good works. Our job is to let that happen.
That’s the hard part; letting it happen. I often think how much easier it would be to parent, if we just knew our kids were supposed to grow up into to become US. Then we could say “Stop that racket!” and know they should stop the music. Or we could stay “Will you STOP TALKING!!!” and know they are supposed to stop talking. But their “good works” may require loud music, or a lot of talking. They could be doing those incredibly annoying things because they are being prepared in advance for good works using their gifts – completely different good works than we were prepared to do.
That’s one of the reasons why I harp on preparing children with a rigorous curriculum. They will be fulfilling their own good works, and it could require college. We need to be able to prepare them for anything that God has prepared in advance for them to do.
Just four until days until our January newsletter. This month’s feature article is “A Grouch Free Guide to Grading High School English.” If you aren’t on our mailing list, you can sign up here.
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Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
J W says:
So the name of the game is exposure, not necessarily mastery, right? The ideal “Rennaisance Man” who is good at everything is very rare. For instance, I hit a brick wall at calculus. I chose my major in college accordingly, and graduated with honors. My husband, on the other hand, is gifted at any math you care to name. He chose his major accordingly, and did well too. Clearly, failure to master every single subject doesn’t spell doom. On the other hand, both my husband and I acknowledge the exposure we had to subjects we weren’t crazy about was valuable later on in life.
December 28th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Renee says:
A Grouch Free Guide to Grading High School English>>>>
This is my toughest subject along with foreign language…. I’m ready to throw in the towel on the latter and pay someone else to do the first
December 29th, 2008 at 8:05 pm