“If there is any post of duty above another which requires a cultivation of the mind, where the intellectual and physical powers require healthy tone and vigor, it is the training of children.”  CG 67

I went to school at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) where I studied to be an elementary school teacher.  I taught for 3 years at Ann Arbor Adventist Elementary School before having our first son, Imanuel.  After he came into our lives, we made the decision that I would stay at home and not teach anymore.  I believe God honored our decision because right after that, Israel received his first call into pastoral ministry here in the UP.  I had been making more money than him (-he being on a meager stipend) and our health insurance was under me.  We weren’t sure how we would manage financially nor how we would get health insurance.  But God took care of our needs in a most unexpected way.  Israel became a pastor and we became yoopers.

I was excited to be starting a new chapter in our lives.  It was a slower-paced life.  I didn’t have to wake up as early to get to school.  I didn’t have to write up lesson plans for nearly every subject for up to 5 different grades every day.  No correcting papers and no lesson prep.  Staying at home has lots of responsibilities as I mentioned before.  It is busy…perhaps even busier than an elementary school teacher.  But I can get away doing many things without much preparation.  As a mother, accomplishment comes to me in many forms.  If the kitchen is clean, the laundry folded and put away, if the boys have eaten and are playing together nicely, when I’ve responded to every GYC email/call…these things seem little, but they soon become the world of a stay-at-home mom.  It is easy to go from day to day just maintaining the happenings at home.  But it’s a vicious, never-ending cycle.  No substantial progress or visible achievements.

There is one enormous danger to living this lifestyle.  Our brain goes dormant and we forget how to think.  It seems we can no longer read through an entire book.  In fact, we might have a stack of books by our bedside because we started each of them, but didn’t have the discipline to finish any of them.  We may resort to Facebook to get the latest news.  I am totally guilty as charged.  Particularly in this day and age where most of us women have been blessed with higher education, we really have no excuse.  I’m more convinced than ever that Satan wants our brains to die.  I believe he particularly targets us women because this will not only disable us from society and in our marriages, but it will unquestionably disadvantage our children.  This will kill the Church.  There is a necessary need to guard our brains and sharpen our minds.

When I was a teacher, there was no way I could “wing it” in the classroom…at least with a clear conscience.  Teaching involved studying the lessons, doing extra research, searching for the best hand-outs, creating new hand-outs, incorporating different styles of learning, and figuring out the best form of assessment for each.  On top of that were all of the in-services, professional development, and staff meetings.  And I wasn’t satisfied until all of my students were successful at learning and growing.  In other words, I was constantly growing and developing as a teacher gaining new ideas and learning new things in order to benefit my students and because my job required it.  What does God require of me now? 

Four years of college prepared me to be a teacher.  God spent my entire life preparing me to be a mother, but there is still plenty of professional development credits that I need to take care of.  I want to take my job seriously.  Whether it be thoughtfully studying and researching for worships/activities or reading books to enhance my knowledge of the world, I want to be mentally strong so I can effectively train and teach my kids.  If I was willing to spend hours prepping for my students as a teacher, it would only be expected that I step it up to the next level as a mother.  I need to remember that I’m not just working part-time or full-time.  I’m working for an eternal life-time.  And I want job security that lasts forever.  Who wouldn’t?

It always irked me to a certain degree when I saw over-indulgent parents.  I’m not sure if it was because I was so “not-indulged” as a kid.  But, you know, when you see the little girl in a fluffy, princess dress, wearing a birthday tiara, nearly lifted off of the floor with birthday balloons, and her parents are offering to buy her up to half of Walmart? – I just couldn’t do it.

I tend to swing to the other extreme.  I’m pretty cheap when it comes to spending on my boys.  Second or third-hand clothes are more than welcome here.  I notice that I almost pride myself in hardly spending anything on them.  After all, they’re just kids!  They are not going to run my house, let alone determine any important life decisions.

But this morning, I read about another set of parents who were willing to do anything for their child. 

Talking about the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth:

“John was the son of their old age, he was a child of miracle, and the parents might have reasoned that he had a special work to do for the Lord and the Lord would take care of him.  But the parents did not thus reason; they moved to a retired place in the country, where their son would not be exposed to the temptations of city life, or induced to depart from the counsel and instruction which they as parents would give him…. They acted their part in developing a character in the child that would in every way meet the purpose for which God had designed his life…. They sacredly fulfilled their obligation…. ”  CG 23.

Here is an example of parents “living” for their son.  Allowing their child to dictate major life decisions.  Doing anything to protect their child.  Apparently waiting on their child, hand and foot.  Have a backbone please!  Exactly the kind of thing that would bother me, right? 

What struck me in a profound way, is that I realized the difference between sacrificing all for personal motives and sacrificing all for Christ’s will to be done in the lives of our children.  There is no hint of indulgence in this scenario.  Rather, complete dedication, earnestness, and love towards a Cause greater than themselves.  They gave all their human effort in raising their son to fulfill God’s special plan for his life.  Nothing was taken for granted.  And ultimately, this IS the perfect expression of love for their son.  This is what I want.     

So, I’ve decided to spend more.  But I want to make it count.  I want to be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that we are on that narrow path – whether it be to move, stay, change jobs, cancel appointments, risk embarrassment and ridicule, buy that $500 Christian book set, and yes, even change who I am.  It’s a radical thought.  It sounds irresponsible.  But I’m glad that Jesus is on my side every step of the way.  This is His ingenious way of saving us and our children.  And at the end when the Lord comes in the clouds of glory and we are standing on that day with our children, I know I will be among them that humbly exclaim that Heaven is cheap enough.