All of us dream of impacting history in some way. We may not admit it, but as we work through our days, often we struggle to find a way that our lives have an impact on others to the point that we are noticed, or at least our efforts are noticed. Sometimes that happens for us, and sometimes it doesn’t happen, at least not until later in life. We can’t always see the fruit of what we do, particularly as homeschoolers, until the seeds that we plant have time to grow and bud into fruit and frankly, that just takes time.
We live in a world that likes instant gratification and immediacy, so time is not something that we like to wait on. But sometimes, instant gratification does not have the longest term byproduct. Think of the weeds that sprout up quickly in the spring. They don’t live very long, do they? In my back yard, we’ve had some particular challenges this year. A very cold winter complete with an overabundance of rain has wreaked havoc on our grass. Add to that the fact that we have two, yes two, Great Danes just a little over a year old, and you can imagine that the wear and tear on our lawn has been great. I see a lot of weeds coming up, but not as much St. Augustine this spring.
However, that St. Augustine grass is there. I can see pockets of it. It will need nurturing and extra care and attention, but it can come back. With a little effort, time, and a lot of patience, I will eventually be able to say that I’m tired of cutting the grass this summer, just as I’ve said in other years. But for now, it looks as if the weeds are winning the battle and may die out leaving me a lot of dirt.
This is similar to homeschooling in a way. As homeschoolers, we see pockets of growth in our children, but sometimes we focus on the weeds. We are busy instructing and training, but sometimes we exaggerate the weed-killer necessary instead of the fertilizer. Both are needed.
As a Christian, I regularly seek the scriptures for guidance, but on occasion, I will also look to the Hebrew texts. It was in the Jewish culture that Jesus grew, so the Hebrew texts can be fascinating. In the Hebrew Talmud, I recently saw an intriguing quote. It said, “When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.” Patience. Expectation for the future. These things take time, but as homeschoolers, perhaps it will be helpful to keep this in mind. We may be teaching our own children now, but it is those same children who will impact the next generation, so whether we see it immediately or not, we are indeed impacting the future – for many years to come.
We see this principle in the Bible, too – Luke 8:8 is the punch line for the parable of the sower. “Other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” So be patient in teaching. Take care to fertilize and pull a few weeds. Remember that homeschooling is not a quick fix, and above all, know that what you are doing to educate your children is a gift for future generations to come, even if you don’t see the immediate results.
If you would like to get more information on college prep, educational coaching, homeschooling, or curricula for middle school and high school, please visit our website, http://www.nationalhomeschoolacademy.com. To download your free “Casting Your Vision Statement” guide, click here. http://www.nationalhomeschoolacademy.com/default.aspx?name=nha.support
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