What Your Child Needs to Know

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When a mama and a daddy first see their newborn baby, they delight in the baby’s sweet eyes and his tiny fingers and toes.

As the baby grows, parents delight in what she learns to do. As he grows some more, they delight in what he says.

As she grows some more, a Christian mama and daddy notice that they need to be on their knees so they will know how to train this little guy or gal to follow God’s will instead of his or her own very strong will.

When their baby reaches the age that other children are going to school, mamas and daddies who decide to train their child at home pray that they can “do it right.” They sometimes worry about whether they actually can “do it right.” They answer questions about how close other people think they have gotten to “doing it right.”

What we are actually doing when we homeschool is training sweet eyes and tiny fingers and toes. We are training voices and minds, hearts and wills.

On Sunday our minister taught a lesson about the temptation to be workaholics. I know from experience that the temptation to be a workaholic at the job of homeschooling our children is real. At times I was certainly guilty. Wayne ended his lesson talking about the need to be sure that we have time to serve our Father in heaven. Of course, we all have the same number of hours in a year. The question is whether they all belong to God or whether we keep certain ones — maybe lots of certain ones — for ourselves.

A line from a song and a statement from the Bible popped into my head as Wayne completed his thoughts. The line from the song was “Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.” Here are the rest of the words (written by Frances Havergal in 1874). They look like a pretty complete “What Your Child Needs to Know” list to me.

Take My Life and Let It Be

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

The scripture that popped into my head Sunday morning were words Jesus said to His mama:

Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?
Luke 2:49 NKJV

Being about our Father’s business. That is why we homeschool. That is what our children need to know.

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