Lessons from Lorraine!

My mother Lorraine has written a beautiful post for my new blog, Home Based Education, titled Quietness of Mind and Singleness of Purpose. What a great privilege it is to receive godly advice from someone who has walked this road before. This is one of my main purposes in starting the new blog, to share what I am learning from others as I seek to create a joyful learning environment at home. I am happy that due to starting this blog, I've been able to gain some extra advice from Mum. It is wonderful to have her thoughts in written form to refer back to and think about more.

A Mom Just Like You

I have been receiving inspiration from Vickie and Jayme Farris's book "A Mom Just Like You". Vickie is a homeschool Mother of 10 children, and she writes frankly about her struggles and the reasons why she keeps on going. I have enjoyed the way the book is frank about the weaknesses and struggles we may face, but also provides many reasons to persevere. Vickie does not encourage readers to just embrace her conclusions, rather she urges them to search the scriptures and come to convictions for themselves about what they should do with their lives. Trust in God and relationship with Him is emphasized throughout. The book covers many topics, including prioritising your marriage and teaching a large family. I recommend this book for other mothers who hope to homeschool.

Equipping children for a life of love

This post finishes a series about the belief statement I wrote about Christian education while studying at Wesley Institute. You can read the two prior posts on this topic, Education to the glory of God and Educating for godly dominion. Christian education must prioritise love for God and people, which is essential to the teachings of the Bible. We are hoping to homeschool, so in future I hope to adapt and expand on the thoughts in this belief statement for that purpose. A Christian education must also be a gospel-focused education. I hope to carefully consider how this could work itself out in our family, specifically with reference to reaching out to our community from our home. The possibilities for education in the home have become so much more exciting and real following the birth of our son Elnathan Michael Drew on Wednesday! Dave is excited about teaching our little one. He's already been observed speaking to the little guy in languages other than English and there seems to be classical music on around here more than usual!

"In order to become effective rulers of the world, children and young adults also need to obey the Great Commandment. Jesus taught that love for God and our neighbours is the principle around which we are to orientate our lives (Mark 12: 29 – 31). Christian education provides opportunities to prioritise love for God throughout the day and in every subject area. God can be glorified as a teacher reminds a student that He created numerical order and working out mathematical problems is possible. When the whole class recognises a sin or problem, they can learn to look to Christ as the answer. As a school, staff and students can sing God’s praises together and pray. Christian education also provides many opportunities to teach children about loving their neighbours. God’s word can be applied to students’ interactions with others and attitude toward themselves. They can be taught that their emotions, thoughts, words, and actions are important to God. Teachers can give moment-by-moment, situation-by-situation instruction about obedience, anger, speech, forgiveness, and many other topics. The academics in a Christian school should never be sub-standard, as this would display a lack of love for the students. Instead, students should be equipped to use the gifts God has given them to serve Christ and His body, the church.

As well as providing opportunities to teach about love for God and others, love for the gospel is an important characteristic of a Christian education. The centre of God’s work for humanity is the coming, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These truths also need to be central to a Christian education. The Bible not only commands Christians to believe the gospel, but to become people who can disciple the nations according to all that God has commanded (Matthew 28:20). Christian schooling can enable teachers to disciple students from both Christian and non-Christian homes. Teachers have wonderful opportunities to reach out to families who do not know Christ, or are struggling in their walk with Him, as well as those who are passionate about the gospel. A focus upon the gospel also gives students the strategies they need to deal with sin. Christian schools cannot protect children from sin, as each person in the school has a sinful heart. Instead, they provide an environment where sin can be exposed and biblically addressed. Through Christian education, students learn the answer to the problem of sin. In their particular circumstances, they can be reminded of God’s grace and its transforming power."

Dave's graduation

We had a wonderful time at Dave's graduation from Monash University early in April.

Getting a PhD means you get a special hat.

The Drews . . . Dave, Sherrin and baby.

I felt blessed to be able to share this special time with Dave, as I was only a week away from the stage of pregnancy when airlines don't like to let you onto planes! 

At the end of the evening, Dave was relieved to take off his hot and somewhat amusing garb.

While in Melbourne we were blessed to receive hospitality from friends. We also felt privileged that a friend and one of my aunts chose to attend the ceremony with us. Graduation ceremonies are not the most riveting of events, so we figured it must have been something of a sacrifice! It was great to be able to share the celebration with them. One of Dave's PhD supervisors also attended.

Educating for godly dominion

Last month, I posted an introductory comment on Christian education that I wrote as part of my Diploma of Education studies at Wesley Institute. Now I would like to share further from the belief statement I have drawn up, with this section on the Creation Mandate.

"As Christians we know that people are made in God’s image, to rule His world (Genesis 1:26). Part of this Creation Mandate is to form families through having children (Genesis 1:28). In order that humanity will rule the world well, parents are commanded to teach their children God’s ways. This teaching is not to be a haphazard and infrequent task. Rather, parents are to look for opportunities to share God’s word during every waking moment (Deuteronomy 6: 7). Truly Christian education, whether at home or at school, involves continual and deliberate sharing about God and what he has commanded. Parents can fulfil this responsibility through home schooling, which is the way that I was educated. If parents do not choose this option, Christian schools provide another way for children to be trained in God’s ways and from his perspective. Christian schooling enables parents to delegate their responsibility to teachers who love God. Teachers are there to help parents train their children to work in families and communities, and exercise responsible rulership over the earth. As families and communities take godly dominion, they glorify and enjoy their Creator."

Education to the glory of God

Now that I'm a Mum to an unborn child, I plan to pay some attention to defining and understanding what our family's vision for Christian education is. My friend John Dekker once stated that he believed this was essential for excellence in home schooling, and I think he has a point. In the past, through my studies at Wesley Institute, I had the opportunity to define my beliefs in an assignment. I'll be using some of the ideas in this to build further understanding. Those of you who are interested in the topic of Christian education may also find these thoughts of interest. Here is the first part of "My personal philosophy of Christian education".

“To glorify God and enjoy Him forever” is the way Augustine described the goal of the Christian life. The education of children is part of this broader aim. Education is inescapably religious. It transfers information about what is meaningful in life, how we should live, and whom we should serve. Even when these ideas are not explicitly spoken, they form the basis of what is excluded or included in the curriculum. Secular education is not neutral. God cannot be glorified where he is not praised. Students do not have a full opportunity to enjoy God when he is not acknowledged. Christians who desire to glorify and enjoy God in education can look to the Bible for encouragement and guidance. The central biblical commands found in the Creation Mandate (Genesis 1: 26 – 28), the Great Commandment (Mark 12: 29 – 31), and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20) provide insights into what truly Christian education should look like.

Cultural story-telling

I have argued previously that the Creation Mandate is a cultural mandate. What we call "education" (and the Bible terms discipleship or teaching) is the way we transfer that cultural mandate to others and equip them to continue its advancement.

Fernhout explains it this way, as quoted in the notes of my Wesley Institute Diploma of Education Biblical Studies course:

"If education is, at bottom, a process of cultural story-telling . . . then the educational engagement of Christians should be imbued with, penetrated by the biblical story and its life-world. Each new generation of Christians needs to be steeped in that story so that their lives can tell the same story as the biblical story . . . Christians are to live in the biblical story as the community whose story it is, and from that indwelling they try to understand and cope with events int heir time in order to carry the story forward."

It is vital to understand the world through the biblical text, and to do this students must both know the text and how to apply it. Significantly, much of what we call "education" today does not disciple students to apply the biblical story. In fact, it disciples students through the lens of alternate stories. It should not be a surprise when students grow up to live those stories, or try to combine them with the biblical story.

The Great Commandment gives purpose to all situations

Yesterday I began my third and last Field Experience for my Diploma of Education. This is nearly full time for five weeks, and requires a lot of out of school time to be spent in preparation. I have enjoyed getting to know the students, and being called Mrs. Drew, but have also struggled with increases in back pain and with the fact that I am not able to do what I’d like to do in the house. I can do little apart from fulfil my course requirements. This means that the hours spent preparing meals, being hospitable, cleaning, organising, and beautifying our home will be greatly reduced or eliminated during this time.

At times, especially in the weeks leading up to Field Experience, I’ve struggled with purpose. Why am I doing this? Is it really worthwhile? Will I ever work as a teacher? These and other questions have caused some distress and uncertainty. I began this Diploma with the intent that it would enable me to work part time as a teacher, or equip me to homeshcool excellently, and these are still my goals. However, at times these do not seem good enough reasons to expend so much effort and sacrifice goals that may be more important.

As usual, Jesus speaks to this and all situations with great clarity. I am in this situation now, whether it is wise or not, and Christ gives purpose to every situation. He does this through telling us how to conduct ourselves in any circumstance. We have a focus: loving God and others. After Jesus recounted the great commandment to a scribe, the scribe answered:

“Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is none other than He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Mark 12:32 - 34.

Jesus does not require us to know what tomorrow holds, or to know how everything fits into our “life purpose”. He requires us to love Him and love others. As I start this Field Experience, I am encouraged that I do have a purpose in this time. Even if I never work as a schoolteacher, this time will be worthwhile if I love the students and teachers at the school and love God through praising and trusting him. I hope that you too, in whatever situation you find yourself, can find hope and purpose in the Great Commandment.

University Options

I was interested to read tonight of a new higher education option for those in the USA. Doug Phillips reported on College Plus!. This program allows students to complete degrees faster, with less expense, and through a mentoring system. I look forward to many more such initiatives being put forward in future. I spent over four years at university completing a degree that I was never sure I should even have started. These were not happy years, as content of the courses and the lifestyle on campus were discouraging and confronting. I wrote about some of this in the post I came to the end. This is one excerpt from that post:

Without faith, people soon find more and more ways to justify unbelief and to scorn God. They trust in their own wickedness, and see man as the centre of history and thought. The idea that ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me’ (Isaiah 47:10) is a blasphemous twist of the truth that “I am the LORD, and there is no other’ (Isaiah 45:6).

It was a relief to come to the end of my BA. I still wonder about the usefulness of the time spent upon it. In the coming years, I hope that Christians across the world will increasingly embrace alternatives to an "education" that opposes Christ. There are better ways to spend one's time, and better ways to reach people for Christ. We just need to find them.