“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never . . . “
The island of Great Britain stood almost alone against the powerful Nazi forces when Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited his alma mater of Harrow School in October 1941. It would be two months before the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, and the United States would enter World War II the following day.
Britain’s prime minister was resolute. Britain would stand firm until the end, no matter how many countries Germany conquered or how many times its planes dropped bombs over British cities.
London, England: Vegetables grown in the United States
and dehydrated for economical shipment across the Atlantic
provide a hot and nourishing dish for little evacuees
from London’s East End, December 1941.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Churchill told the boys of Harrow:
“. . . never give in, never give in, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
One of your opportunities as homeschooling mamas is to instill determination, perseverance, and diligence in your children. Another is to channel that determination, perseverance, and diligence into pursuits of “honour and good sense.”
Solomon taught diligence when he said:
Go to the ant, O sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise . .
Proverbs 6:6
And when he asked:
How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
Proverbs 6:9
And when he observed:
The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
Than seven men who can give a discreet answer.
Proverbs 26:16
Mamas are tempted to worry about their children’s futures. Teach a child to trust in God and to be diligent and unbending in convictions of honour and good sense, and he or she is ready to enter the future with confidence.
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
But the soul of the diligent is made fat.
Proverbs 13:4
Jesus said it this way:
“No one, after putting his hand to the plow
and looking back,
is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62