Learning to Bow // five minute friday

“Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God.” Proverbs 1:7a (Message)

Last year, God led us to Proverbs 1:7a to define the goal of our homeschool as this verse answers the what and the why of our motivation to homeschool. It's not only our goal, but it is the foundation of our educational philosophy. 

However, we have lost sight of that goal and we’ve only completed our first month of the school year. Somewhere between the battle of the wills, lack of support from friends who used to think homeschooling was great but now think we’re crazy for continuing with it, and dealing with a child who has a great brain but uses it only when he wants to, we have completely lost sight of the bigger picture.

As soon as I saw this week’s word ("learn"*), Proverbs 1:7 came to mind reminding me of what learning is all about. God led us down the path of homeschooling so we could learn together as a family what it means to start with Him and how to bow down to Him in everything. It is a verse both for parent and child, teacher and student.

It sounds simple in theory but it’s in the middle of the battle of the wills when I’m feeling rather ungodly that I need to bow down to God instead of bow down to my way and what I feel in that moment. God's response has a way of diffusing situations and lending much-needed perspective. Bowing down to God when my friends back away means loving them regardless and standing firm in what we believe knowing that following God requires sacrifice and obedience. And bowing down to God when my child refuses to apply himself means seeking Him for direction, patience, love, and guidance as I respond to my child.

Bowing down to God isn’t just something I do but it’s something I have to teach my child to do as well. It’s teaching my child that we all are under God’s authority and showing him what that relationship looks like. It’s taking the time to explain the “why” behind our rules and rather than making Christianity look like a bunch of do’s and don’ts. It’s giving God the respect that He deserves as we live out our lives respecting one another. It’s making God’s Word, His ways, and Him a priority in all that we do. It’s intentionally living out Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (the very passage that I have so resisted using to illustrate why we homeschool because it is so overused and thrown out carelessly in too many circles):

“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.”

I feel like our school days lately are 80% dealing with heart issues and 20% “education”. And this week has been flat-out discouraging, frustrating, and exhausting! We have moments where my child totally excels, applies himself, and hungers for knowledge. But then we have those moments that threaten to ruin the entire day because everything simply falls apart for him and we choose to end our day early to save the relationship and deal with the behavioral issues at hand. 

How I needed to meditate on Proverbs 1:7 tonight, to remember the why, and to reflect on what is most important for us to learn this year! While homeschooling is exhausting and challenging work at times, it truly is excellent training ground for both the parent and child/the teacher and student to learn what it means to bow down to God in every area of life. 

*Five Minute Friday (#FMFparty) gives writers a word prompt. We are encouraged to write whatever comes to mind about that word in just five minutes.  No editing, no perfection, only writing from the heart.  To find out more, visit http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/.  This week's word is "LEARN".