Hello Friends,
For several months now, I have shared heartfelt article-length commentaries on educational insights. While certainly no self-proclaimed expert, most of the writings were born from a place of firsthand experience and observation, measured against a well-worn Bible with yellow highlighted, tear stained scriptures. During the last 26 years devoted to education, there has been season upon season of trying hard, pouring in, making mistakes, celebrating “little light bulbs”, and reaping knowledge and wisdom.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 9:10
If there was a reel of transformative highlights from this servant’s educational narrative, it would most certainly give you a glimpse of the confused thoughts of an eight year old student wrestling with a science class discussion centered on creatures who lived millions of years ago while knowing that only two thousand years ago her Savior walked an inhabited, societal sod. Fast forward, she, with wobbly knees and a grade at stake, can be seen respectfully pushing back on a Christian-hating Native American Literature professor’s insistence to compositionally renounce one’s faith. Interestingly, a couple years later, she would find herself standing before a vehemently disapproving administrator when she chose to pray with her students during the early days of “See You at the Pole.”
Witnessing the potentially detrimental fallacies and pitfalls of public education, she sacrificially determined to forgo professional growth opportunities for the honor of Biblically educating her own three blessings. With starry-eyed great expectations of the standards that Christian education surely possessed, she soon discovered that public education philosophical methodologies had crept into both Christian homeschool co-op and Christian school pedagogy. The once Deuteronomy 6 hand-to-hand and heart-to-heart pursuit of divine beauty, virtue, and truth had been relegated in many instances to factory styled, “leveled”, numeric grade or score driven checked boxes. Yet, God met her in that valley of disillusionment with a small community of like-minded educators who compassionately poured biblical truth, guidance, and accountability into their sister. Like all wearied, God-focused, life narratives, the brief Ecclesiastes-type ponderings of meaninglessness concluded with renewed Biblical fervor and a passionate determination to “pay it forward” by aiding fellow educators’ to regain their love for, focus, and drive towards pure biblical instruction.
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:22-24
Train a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
The highlight reel closes with the camera panning to a broken, yet obedient, servant humbly joining a multitude of silhouettes kneeling reverently in a vast and endless field of honey-kissed wheat. Swaying melodically in a gentle breeze, every grain represents a child tenderly educated about Christ’s sacrificial love and their divine purpose, while collectively forming a chorus of disciples praising and serving their unseen yet ever present Lord.
It is an honor and privilege to join each of you as you sincerely seek to serve the Lord by teaching His children. Like the blessed and chosen disciples of old, He desires for us to journey together so as to be continuously attached to a non-judgmental, encouraging lifeline of accountability, inspiration, and equipping that is critical to continuing His good and holy work. For the next two months, we are temporarily pausing this blog to lovingly and obediently pour prayer, concentrated time, and resources into the preparation and launch of that community...the REAP website. We look forward to reconnecting with you in September with this critical lifeline. Until then, we are praying for you and the life changing work you are preparing to do this 2021-22 school year. If you have any questions, or desire to be included on our REAP contact list for future announcements of the upcoming launch, please contact me (tonya gordon) at tgordon@renewanation.org.
