“Alas, if our children lose the crown of life, it will be
but a small consolation that they have won the laurels of literature or art.”
~Charles Spurgeon
Her youngest girl has sideways curls. When we are together, our
crew of eleven can shake the house. Mine are atrociously louder than hers and
she pretends not to care. She's thankful for the hot cup of caffeine I pass her
way. She smiles. I can't help but wish we lived closer. This
gathering of faces together and presenting knowledge and ideas to be grasped
and somehow retained by a mere High-school graduate (myself),and partially
college studied mother, (herself) does more than make me panicky, at times it
darn well scares me to death!!!! Yet, here we are waist deep in the muck of it
all.
I never once thought I'd be a homeschooling mom when I was younger. I'm not the
scholarly type. Nor do I enjoy teaching my children things I hardly know
myself. Somehow, I forget all that when we school our children side by
side. Somehow I know all that matters is the task at hand and if she can do it,
I can do it. It doesn't come easy. Some days I don't even want to try because
of how badly and regularly I fail. But what is failure after all? Is looking
back after you've completed a task, knowing you tried your best, failure? Even
if things didn't turn out as you planned, is that failure? Or is failure only
failure if you don't complete the task at all? God knows what we're
capable of, doesn't He? He promises not to give us more than we can bear, right?
So just because I may not be able to teach my children as successfully as a mom
with a college degree and a burning desire to educate, does that make me a
failure or my children in some way less worthy? I think not.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 says;
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful
that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what
you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it."
Our Lord desires Godly offspring. (Malachi 2:15) He expects
us to raise and train up these little ones in righteousness. Prov.22:6 Says,
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not
depart from it."
Understandably, this way of teaching and training will look
different to each of us Moms. However, as we press on toward the goal, we see
our predecessors cheering us on to win! (The goal being true
fellowship with God and to enjoy Him forever.) “And you, fathers, do not
provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and
admonition of the Lord." Eph. 6:4
Charles Spurgeon understood parenting to a great depth when
he said, "The most careful and prayerful father cannot be held accountable
for having wicked sons, if he has done his best to instruct them. The most
anxious and tearful mother cannot be blamed if her
daughter dishonors the family, provided her mother has done her
best to train her up in the right way."
The point here is to do our best according to His word,
which is what God expects, and let Him do the rest.
Blessings.
