I read something the other night that has stuck with me for a bit and thought I'd share it.
It's rather simple really- it's that Martin Luther King Jr. had a mom.
I mean, it makes sense. Somebody had to birth him. Obviously, somebody raised him. Someone taught him. Someone loved him. Someone poured into him. Invested in his life. Helped teach him and guide him into the man that he became.
From that thought- what am I doing to raise my children into the adults I want them to be? I mean, sure- at 2 and 5 years old, they've got a long way to go. We're still working on potty training- a long way from speeches inspiring millions. But, how can I show love to my children? How can I teach them to love others? What are my long term goals for my girls? I think this differs family to family. For me- my main priority is to teach them to love God and to love his people. I've based this around the teachings of Jesus and a core belief I have that if we love God and love people- nothing else matters. Everything else will work itself out. I've centered our 5 year old's homeschool curriculum around this idea. I mean, sure- I want my children to learn academics. Reading and writing and math and science are all important.
But if they go to Harvard at the expense of Heaven, does it really matter?
If they are top of their class and have hearts of stone and don't love others- have I still succeeded? I don't have the all the answers on how we do this- but it starts with love. It starts with loving our kids. It starts with not just telling them about the love of God, but showing them.
Adding on to this- I think sometimes we like to hide the darkness from our kids. It starts out with the best of intentions- we want to protect their innocence. I mean...do you really want to teach your children about human trafficking and terrorism and all the terrible horrible things in the world? Maybe we can just keep them safe in a little bubble for a little while longer. This was something I really wrestled with when coming up with Sadie's around the world study we are doing for homeschool this year. I mean, we could just read books about the world and look at a map and pretend to fly on an airplane and it would be great! But- that's not how I want to raise my child. I want to give her a heart that longs to help people in need. A quote I came across describes it perfectly to me:
The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by imagining the shadows away. Do not try to hide your children from the world forever, but do not try to pretend there is no danger. Train them. Give them sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter. Make them dangerous. Make them yeast, and when they’ve grown, they will pollute the shadows. -N.D. Wright
How can we raise dragon slayers if they don't know the dragons exist?
That's why we talked about Malala and how under the Taliban, little girls couldn't go to school in Pakistan. That's why we talked about Afghanistan. That's why we read books like the Librarian of Basra and talked about the war in Iraq and read books about bombings in Lebanon and talked about communism in Russia and Cuba. It's why we talked about the Holocaust and concentration camps at Hanukkah. That's why we talk about homeless people and halfway houses and addiction. If we don't talk about the darkness, how can we defeat it? How can we spread light in the shadows if we don't stray from the extremely well-lit areas? We use these stories to talk about redemption, grace, love, and perseverance through hard times. We use these stories to talk about how "Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light" (Thanks Dumbledore.) We talk about what we can do to love others...on a 5 year old level.
My oldest child is only five. I might be screwing her up. If it's because she loves people too much, I'm okay with that.
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