August 17, 2021 – Tuesday
Arms Wide Open
It has been two weeks since our morning spent on the North Carolina coastline. Since that time I have been pondering the invitation I received to focus on and capture the beauty in our days. It feels as if the Lord has been blowing on the fire He kindled within me that morning, by reminding me of the beautiful lessons He provided when I was fully surrendered and dependent on the leading of His Spirit.
During our early years of homeschooling, I chose to heed the still small voice of Lord and surrendered my school plans to Him. I laid down my desire to order store bought curriculum and I chose instead to simply trust God to guide us. As I surrendered to the Lord, I was humbled by how He used me to teach His precious children, and I was amazed at the gifts He sent day after day. You can read some of those stories in my Memoirs of a Preschool Teacher. It was a beautiful season. Our days were filled with nature exploration, creating beautiful art, and simply unwrapping each new gift as it was presented to us. Our activities honored childhood and even more importantly, I believe they honored God.
It is amazing what God can do when give Him space in our lives! Busy schedules and rigid curriculums leave little space in our days, and hinder our ability to discover the gifts and beauty waiting to be uncovered with each new sunrise. What we think we are supposed to teach our children, often stands in the way of what we want to be teaching and even should be teaching. The Lord will always meet us where we are. We cannot limit God. He has shown up in our homeschool when I am fully surrendered and when I am not, but full surrender has proven to be the most fruitful.
Many of us have our arms too full to receive the good gifts the Lord wants to give us. We are holding all of our ideas, curriculum, books and activities, much like a woman carrying bags of groceries into her home. Our arms are full of items that nourish our family. There is nothing wrong with what we are holding, except for the fact that our arms are too full to receive anything more. As we lay down all we are holding and stand empty handed, we are best positioned to receive the gifts the Lord longs to give us. Mama, our plans are indeed good – but God’s plans are perfect. He is willing. Are we ready? I can’t help but wonder what God could do with all of our time. What if we stand with arms wide open – open to receive? What if we shift our focus from our plans to our God? What if we focus on beauty?!
Have you have ever been in a quiet room and suddenly become aware of the tick tock of the clock? Once you have tuned in to the clock’s rhythmic sound, it becomes difficult not to hear it. In fact, it becomes all you can hear. I became aware of the clock on my son’s wall one night when I was sleeping in his room with him. The sound became so consuming that I eventually had to get out of bed, take it off the wall, and remove it from the room so I could go back to sleep.
What we focus on, we magnify. A magnifying glass can bring the sun into focus with such intensity it can create a fire. I have kindled many a fire with my focus – some beneficial and some harmful. We must be cautious where we focus our attention - the smallest spark can set a whole prairie ablaze. Whatever we want to magnify in our schools, our homes, our lives… that is where we must focus. Our primary focus should always be on the Lord. As we align our focus with the Lord, everything else falls into place. The Bible tells us we can magnify the Lord with thanksgiving (Ps 69:30). Oh the power gratitude! If I am longing to magnify beauty, I must first focus on beauty.
I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. (Ps 69:30, AMP)
In Malachi 3:10, God invites His people to bring the full tithe into the storehouse and test if He will not open the windows of heaven and pour out an abundance of blessing! What would happen if we gave a minimum of 10% of our homeschool to the Lord? What could He do with it? Do we really need the next best curriculum or do we simply need God? There is nothing wrong with using curriculum as a guide, but not at the cost of crowding out the freedom of the Spirit of the Lord to move within our homes. 10% is a good start! Full surrender is where the magic happens. We can trust the Lord with our children and their education! This my friends is the path less traveled! This is the path that makes all the difference!
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (Mal 3:10, ESV)
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. ~ Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Each of us in a masterpiece created by the very hands of God, designed with a purpose to do the good works which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10). Who better than our Creator to guide us and our children on our journey to discover who we are created to be. Yes – I did say us and our children. It is through homeschooling that we also discover our divine purpose. God knows our resources, limitations, gifts, talents and interests better than anyone. No curriculum or school could ever gather together each of these details more masterfully or efficiently than He who created it all.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Eph 2:10, NLT)
Does this mean I can’t use any curriculum at all? I don’t think so. What I believe it means is that I need to hold each resource loosely and be flexible to lay it down when needed. As we journey with the Lord, He will give us the tools we need. There will be days he invites us to simply sit and rest at the well – to drink until we are satisfied. We must be willing to become women at the well!
Below are the lyrics to a song I wrote when we were preparing to leave our home in Colorado almost two years ago. These lyrics are as appropriate today as they were then. I am beginning to realize that having my arms wide open is a lifelong posture I should strive for.
