The Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Teach Your Child
Imagine a fish swimming in a river. The swimming fish is content in its environment. It is where it belongs; doing what it is created to do. Now imagine someone scooped the fish up in a net and placed in on the riverbank. What happens?
The fish flip flops and struggles on the ground.
Keeping Our Children from Being a Fish Out of Water
We all have one main purpose—to have a relationship with God, to bring glory to Him by the way we live our lives, by how we relate to Him and others (Matt. 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31).
When we are walking in that purpose we are where we are meant to be, we are swimming in the river of living water. Doing what we are created to do.Walking in the love, joy and peace of the Trinity–allowing that love to flow through us into others.
When we are not fulfilling that purpose we are frustrated, discouraged, depressed, brokenhearted, and frequently provoked to seek out something else that will fulfill the void.
Parents #1 Job
Our number one job as parents is to open our children’s eyes to God’s love and God’s ways.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deut 6:4-9)
We teach our children how much God loves them:
- By example–fulfilling the greatest commands loving God and others.
- By reading the stories from God’s Word teaching them to respect God and learn of His ways.
In the Way He Should Go
Proverbs 22:6 says Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
This verse shows us a parent’s training must be based on knowing his or her child. The Hebrew text has the personal pronoun attached to the noun “way.” It reads, “his way” and not simply “in the way he should go.” “Way” is the Hebrew word derek, which means “way, road, journey, manner.”
Our job is to recognize and acknowledge our child’s purpose –his unique way or bent–then provide the environment, help, encouragement, and the tools to help them full fill it.
God will reveal bits and pieces of your child’s purpose through the seasons of your life. We are to pray to recognize it and be aware of the revelation. Then help them recognize their identity and make available the skills needed for that purpose to be manifested.
Homeschool Scheduling by Faith
On of the worse things we can do is to push our agenda upon them. God forbid we miss recognizing our purpose or miss helping our children find their purpose.
This is why I follow Delight Directed methods over curriculum agenda and why I try to Schedule by Faith.
In the same way, one of the worse things the leadership in the church can do is to push their agenda on individuals (religion instead of relationship). The church should be the sanctuary where we can find the freedom and encouragement to develop our gifts and talents and purpose just as the home should be the sanctuary where our children can find the freedom and encouragement to develop their gifts and talents.
Prayer
My daily morning prayer goes something like this:
Good Morning Father. What would you have me do today? What would you have me say? Open my eyes to Your Light, direction and will. Show me what you want me to teach your children today.
Seek and Trust
God will lead you into your purpose and your child’s purpose. You don’t need to strive to find it. He is able to guide you exactly where you need to go; your job is to keep your eyes and ears open. 
Spiritual maturity is about coming to the end of ourselves and realizing just how big God really is, and that there is no way that we could ever do it on our own!
Seek God and rest assured, He will perfect that which concerns you and your children. (Psalm 138:8). Trust, have confidence in Him, wait in joyful anticipation for Him to revel His will. “Blessed are all who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
One question though Robin. Don’t you have some sort of loose guide for learning through the grades? Maybe not a scope and sequence but a general guide. I understand being led by the Spirit but I also feel comfortable knowing what general direction we are heading.
I still do separate subjects but i love your ideas. Maybe one day I will move to unit studies but right now this is where we are. Thanks for all your inspiration.
Sorry, it’s me again. I think I know the answer. It’s the 4 year rotation in HOWTA right??
Yes, the 4 year x 3 is explained at
http://heartofwisdom.com/homeschoollinks/12-year-living-book-plan/
What a timely message ….again ! I needed to hear this. I have been floundering around in my homeschooling and I think…know it is b/c I am too stretched outside my home. I have been asking God for a vs for balance. I need to prioritise what is most important so I can be the best mommy to my four boys I can be. Thank you for that reminder.
Blessings and ((HUGS)) my SSiC
In Him<
-Mary @Raising 4 Godly Men
Hello Robin,
Once again, thank you! I love how the Holy Spirit uses you to confirm what He has been saying to me. I can sense your calm spirit in this post–as a Titus woman, leading those of us who are being taught “a new way” by our Heavenly Father. Your words encourage me, Robin.
Thank you–blessings upon blessings to you and your family!
Tamara Scire
I love this. You know I do. I retweeted it several times!:)
I gave you a Fabulous Blog award. It’s a double award, actually. You can see it at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/penneyfromheaven/647820/
Thanks for all you do, Robin!
Love,
Penney
This is such a great touching post. I’m praying I can remember the importance of my job.
This is a great post Do you mind if I link your post up on my blog?
Parents #1 Job http://bit.ly/KABfO
Oh how my prayer is to keep my focus on Christ and our #1 job as parents. Thank you for this great reminder today Robin!
Well said, as usual. Thanks for the reminder.
Great post, Robin! One of the worst parenting mistakes I could make is to try to get God into their lives. Because that starts with the assumption that God is absent from them, that He is not already super-active in and through them. I want my daily question to be: “Papa, what are you doing with your kids today? How can I participate in that?”
Hello,
I’ve been reading your archives and getting a lot of encouragement from them. I agree pastors these days are pushing their agenda and not the truth. The church should be made up of establised believers and if we go to a building as our church, when we are there we should be there for training from the Bible and not their interpretation or so that they can publish their next book and collect the offering/tithe.
In love,
It’s a good thing, but I think that the main thing that you have to teach your child is to respect other people.