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God’s Valentine
February is the month of love. As Christians, every month should be the month of love. In 1 Corinthians 13:1, the Bible tells us that, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” That’s a very sobering thought to this homeschool Mom.
In the past 10 years since I first started homeschooling, I must confess that I was not always speaking or acting as loving as I should have. Like everyone, I had my bad days and my good days. If the laundry was piled up to the ceiling in my laundry room or there were more bills than money, my love light would be flickering. It’s so easy to get caught up in the moment of stress and react to it.
The good news is this: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might. He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31 (NKJV italics mine)
There is a catch to this, though, and it’s this. We have to give the Lord our life, our worries, our cares and we have to WAIT! That’s the hard part, isn’t it? The waiting. However, I’ve learned that the waiting isn’t that bad if we are waiting on the Lord because He gives us peace beyond understanding. (see Phillipians 4:7)
What does all this have to do with homeschooling, you ask? Everything! If we are not loving to our children then everything we are trying to teach them both in their walk with the Lord and in their schooling is for naught. After all, the Lord tells us that we become like clanging cymbals. Have you ever been around a group of children with cymbals? The noise is deafening and you can’t concentrate on anything else except that horrible noise. That’s what happens to our children when we don’t act loving or teach in a loving manner.
Now, I’m not trying to put more pressure on you Moms out there (Lord, knows, we have enough of that!) but what I am telling you is that the more I worked on giving the Lord my worries and cares and just loved my children, things went much more smoothly. They learned better, they were more open in their talking with me, and we had peace in our home. It was just better all the way around and I can honestly say, very, very seldom do any cross words pass my lips. This is not to pat myself on the back. No dear sisters, this is totally the Lord! He truly has worked a work in my life and while the journey is far from over – I still have a lot of work to be done, believe me – I am definitely not who I was.
Don’t make this another item to put on your “to-do” list. After all, this isn’t something you can do in your own strength or wisdom. When you find yourself getting overwhelmed with the cares of the day, allow yourself to sit down, take some deep breaths and pray to the Lord. Ask Him to take your cares and to give you His peace. He will, you know. One thing I can assure you – your worrying or getting stressed out about something isn’t going to change a thing except maybe give you health problems and family problems.
Let us resolve in this month of love to put the practice of 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 into our lives and our homes. The Lord is willing, able and longs to help us in this journey.
Have a wonderful and happy Valentines Day and, remember, we are God’s valentine. He loves us more than anyone.
©2009 Julie Danielson
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