Raising children is not a task for the faint of heart...if it is to be taken seriously, that is. It is a heavy responsibility and requires much prayer and intentionality. Children cannot be raised appropriately in a vacuum. There must be a plan of action... a conscious decision made, as to the atmosphere, structure and worldview in which you will bring them up.
Our goal was (and is!) to raise our children into young adults who would follow Christ faithfully by walking in his ways, sharing him with others and passing on the torch of faith to their own children. We are in the midst of this plan as I write this post. We have a son who has recently married a beautiful Christian young woman who is such a blessing to us. They are very involved in their local church and are living for the Lord. We have a teenage son who is about to graduate from high school and who loves the Lord and uses his gifts and talents to serve him. And...we have a daughter who is just entering the teenage years and is watching our every move to see if we are genuine in our faith.
How can we raise our children into adults who will love and honor God with their lives and build their own families on the solid rock of Jesus Christ? I believe there are several key elements involved:
1) Pray for your children...daily! Prayer is powerful, effective and life-changing. Our children need that supernatural protection and we need wisdom...through prayer God will provide these things. ( James 5:16b , James 1:5 )
2) Become engaged in a local Bible-believing, gospel-preaching, people-loving, scripture-driven, church. The Bible says we are not to "forsake the assembling of ourselves together" as a body of believers. In other words, go to church, take your children, get involved in Sunday school or Bible study. Make sure your children are an active part of the church youth group. Does this guarantee success? Of course not! But, you will have a greater chance of success ( raising a Christ-honoring kid) if your child develops friendships among other Christian teens whose families have the same goals and values and if he/she has a youth leader who takes an interest in them and becomes a godly mentor to them. Begin early taking your children to church activities and programs. They will develop a real love for the family of God that will continue through life. As Christians, church life should be a huge part of our life.
3) Do not be a hypocrite! Live out your faith at home. Make your home a place where kindness, grace, love and forgiveness are practiced. Our children are always watching us as we try to teach them Christ-like behavior. They want to know if we really believe it. Children will not grow up and be the way you told them to be...they will mimic the way you actually lived!
4) Be sure to make your home a place of intentional spiritual training. Read the Bible as a family. Memorize scripture together. Pray for each other. As your children get older, discuss current events in the light of scripture. Help them to see life's issues and challenges from a biblical perspective. ( Deuteronomy 4:9 and 6:5-9 )
5) Prayerfully consider the educational choices you will make for your children and try not to default to the easiest or closest choice. Your children will come out of their school experience with a particular worldview, be it a Christian or a secular one. You have a choice as to who will have an influence over your child for 150 hours a month for 13 years. I suggest you study up on the development of a young person's worldview as related to modern education and of course, look intently over the curriculum that is being taught to your child. Look for contra-biblical ideas and values that are woven throughout the educational program. Understand what an important decision this is, pray about it, and follow God's leading.
Hopefully, this post gives you a few helpful tools to use as you try to raise your children to love and honor God and to further his kingdom in the world. I hope it was helpful.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Classical Conversations: The Adventure Begins!
Today my daughter and I and several other friends attended an open house for our new home school program...Classical Conversations. I can't tell you how excited I am that the Lord led us to this wonderful Christian based educational program and this new (to us) educational philosophy.
According to the Classical Conversations handbook, the program is: a mission - to know God and make Him known, a model - to combine a biblical worldview and classical tools and, a method - to equip parents and encourage students.
Classical Conversations is based on the classical tools of learning: grammatical, rhetorical and dialectical skills in particular.
The students go to a specific location one day a week to have lessons and concepts presented by an experienced Classical Conversations tutor. They will have opportunities to discuss literature, share their writing, learn Latin (!) and explore creationism vs evolution. The parent is still the child's primary teacher and works through the assignments with them during the week.
Our tutor is a godly, perky, former missionary, Mom who is definitely gifted and passionate about teaching. She actually seems to ooze the love of Jesus from every pore, if that's possible. I'm thrilled that we will have the opportunity to get to know this amazing woman as the year progresses.
My expectations for this program are that my daughter come out on the other side as a more independent learner, a more impassioned and skillful communicator and, that she will be moved to a closer walk with God as she begins to understand the power, genius and creativity of the God of the universe.
I am constantly amazed at how God orchestrates our lives as we seek to please and honor Him...opening up new avenues to fulfill the desires of our hearts. In this case, the desire of my heart to raise a godly young woman who will walk in the ways of the Lord and pass on the legacy of faith to her own children.
Another very special blessing that God showers on us at the most unexpected times is the gift of new friends who are in the same phase of life with the same heart for their children. It's an awesome thing to be in such a community. This is another facet and benefit of Classical Conversations.
For my daughter and I, this year will signal a change in the pace as well as the content of our previous homeschooling efforts. It will be a challenge but we will embrace it and "work at it with all of our heart as unto the Lord".
I will keep you posted on our progress as we journey through this year of new friends, new material and new challenges. I can't wait to see what God has in store!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Not Your Grandmother's University!
I recently returned from a college scouting trip with my 17 year old son and what an eye-opening, informative and exciting adventure it was. It has been many years since I graduated from college but I still remember how certain I was about what college I wanted to attend. As a Florida girl, I was determined to go to a place where I could experience cooler weather and a little snowfall in the winter. I was also drawn to the beauty of the mountains. Even though I had a wonderful, loving relationship with my parents, I really wanted to go a good distance away from home. I was ready to spread my wings.
Even so, I was still caught a little off-guard when my son expressed that same determination to go to a college out of state. After a few early, futile attempts to get him to attend college closer to home, I realized, he is his mother's son...a little stubborn and independent. Therefore, I eagerly began helping him to sort through college information and to plan a college road trip to several colleges in the southeast that seemed to fit his needs and our goals for him as a college student. After much prayer, planning and anticipation, we headed out... SAT scores, G.P.A. and class rank in hand.
We visited seven colleges in 5 days, listening to admissions presentations and taking tours at each location. We explored both Christian and secular universities, from very small to quite large. I quickly realized that we were hearing many of the same "buzzwords" at nearly all of the schools we visited. Needless to say, they were all new ideas since my days in college nearly 30 years ago. Some are big ideas, others are smaller innovations. Here is a partial list:
honors college
undergraduate research
extensive data bases
freshman seminar
test optional admissions process
weighted GPA's
completely wireless campus
laptops
club sports
laundry web site ( you can go online and see when a washer is available! )
green campus
microwave-fridge combination ( for saving energy )
study abroad ( we had this at my college but it is much more wide-spread and available now )
As I said, these terms are now the norm on college campuses. We heard them again and again.
The most awesome moment for me was visiting one-on-one with the admissions counselor at a medium sized Christian college. She exuded the joy of Christ and of course, talked to my son about praying about his decision and following the Lord's leading. She said, "If the Lord leads you here, we would love to have you."
It was at that same college where I was fighting back tears during the viewing of the admissions video! My son and I were the only ones in the room at the time and the Christian message and vision that were put forth by the college president in the video just got to me. It was inspiring...and I am quite sensitive when it comes to spiritual things anyway. My son, of course, was horrified that someone would walk in and see me crying...he said, "Mom! No one cries during admissions videos!" That made me laugh and I quickly dried my tears before the admissions counselor reappeared.
The colleges we visited covered a somewhat wide range from very conservative to more liberal, as evidenced by their dorm rules, types of clubs and organizations on campus, and the content of the classes offered. As I said, it was an eye-opening trip, to be sure.
What do you think about whether Christian kids should ever go to a secular college? Leave a comment below and let me know.
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