Preparation: A One-Word Definition of Homeschooling
God is constantly preparing what we need.
Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
Psalm 74:16
You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.
Psalm 65:9
Near the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth, He told His disciples about preparations He was going to make:
In My Father’s house are many dwelling places;
if it were not so, I would have told you;
for I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2
God has also prepared things for us to do.
For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand
so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
The main purpose of the Tennessee Maneuvers was to prepare the soldiers training here for the battles they would fight in Europe. These are photos of the mock battle that reenactors performed at the festival I told you about last week. These reenactors were mimicking a mock battle that World War II soldiers once had on this same street during the Tennessee Maneuvers.
The real soldiers had real battles to fight; but before they fought, they needed to prepare.
Preparation is an excellent one-word definition of homeschooling. Every day you are preparing your children for their futures. The generations who will follow us are counting on us to do that well. Psalm 78 tells us how God wanted Israelite parents to prepare their future generations and what happened when they didn’t. It is a powerful encouragement and a powerful warning for us.
For He established a testimony in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach them to their children,
That the generation to come might know,
even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children,
That they should put their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
And not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Psalm 78:5-8