What Is The Question?

If I outsource something, I can blame someone else. He has a way of making a proud girl humble. They need to know that their Father rules the universe and that as children of the King, they are special and loved. At one point they’ll make a decision for themselves about what they believe. Until then, it’s on us as their parents to teach them the gospel. I confess that part of me wants to lean on others to do this for me. Maybe a school teacher. What if I get it wrong? I’ve learned in teaching my children the gospel that I don’t have to know it all. The point is that we learn together. So how do we do that, practically? Regardless of our gifts, it’s amazing what we learn ourselves while we’re trying to teach. Can you imagine if, instead of starting out as babies, our children were given to us as fully grown teenagers? That would be such a challenge. Instead, we usually start with vulnerable babies who can’t talk.

Flip The Switch

We learn and grow together so that by the time the kids are older, we have the experience to navigate more sophisticated discussions and situations that arise. When it comes to teaching our kids, it makes sense to start when they’re little. When our oldest child was a toddler, I started by finding entertainment for her that was steeped in principles. It’s about creating an opportunity for conversation. Kids can memorize things so easily! Ever notice how a kid can skin their knee and two days later it’ll be healed? That same cut would take weeks to heal on you or me. Children are continually being renewed on a biological level in a way that we as adults aren’t. Similarly, their minds absorb so many things. You might think your kid can only learn in a Sunday school setting or with simplified versions of what Scripture says. Even our youngest will pick up something from family devotions. I remember little purses! These days I carry a bag. Anything you can need, I have in this bag. An extra set of clothes? I pretty much have it all in here.

Staying True To Your Heart

As a mom of young kids, I spend a big part of every day planning for every contingency. There’s the temper tantrum. Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. Being prepared is good. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? It started when Grace was four, about to enter kindergarten. I wanted to go there myself! Afterward, when we got in the car, I said, So, what do you think, Grace? She said, Mommy, why can’t you just teach me? I thought, Hmm. That was the start of looking at what it might take to homeschool. When Grace was going into fourth grade, we moved back to New Orleans so Benjamin could play for the Saints. The kids went to the same school Grace and I had toured when she was four! It was a gift because that was the year I got pregnant with the twins. I don’t know how it would have worked otherwise. At this point I’ve seen the benefits and drawbacks of all the methods.

Back Into The Universe

We keep adjusting our approach to make sure it best fits our family’s priorities and values, as well as the season of life we’re in. In a house with seven kids, rules and timelines and protocols are nonnegotiable. Otherwise, our home would be in complete chaos. Even when everything is going according to plan, a migraine headache can hit me out of the clear blue sky and send our day into a tailspin. Sometimes I can power through what I’m doing, whether I’m in the kitchen or helping the kids with a project, until I can take a break and lie down. But sometimes a headache comes on quickly and I can barely see straight, let alone walk. If you’ve ever experienced a migraine, you know what I’m talking about. Such moments are demoralizing. I would give about anything to make them go away. For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. I don’t feel grateful for migraines. Last fall, five of our kids were working on schoolwork from their different stations around the house and the twins were basically just running around. We realized Thanksgiving was about to roll around, and we hadn’t left the house in weeks. We all needed a change of scenery. I’m thinking, This is going to be awesome. We’re going to make some good memories! My plan was to cook all the food and bring it with us. That way we could just warm it up on Thanksgiving Day and voilà! Meanwhile, I got the kids set up with their online schoolwork while I tried to do a thousand things to get us ready for the perfect Thanksgiving getaway. All of a sudden one of the boys yelled at me from the other room. Mommy, can you come here? Now during the day, I get a lot of questions, especially when it comes to school. From there I can answer questions that arise during their school day. But this time I was moving all around the house. I had a lot going on. I yelled from the kitchen, Wait one second. I’m almost done here. But my son was insistent. Can you come now? I’m busy! I hollered. What is the question? Still he called, Can you please just come here? Y’all. I do not like being summoned. My patience was wearing thin.