The Calling of the Home Educator: Give and then Give Again

Previously we wrote about the need for prayer and how parents are called to be a shepherd.  and we reflected on the importance of hope and how parents must be a student with a clear academic vision. Building on those foundations, we turn now to a third, indispensable part of this calling: to give. Not once. Not occasionally. Give, and then give some more.

Give your time. Give your energy. Load and unload the dishwasher one more time. Sit for the next read-aloud with your full heart, even when you’re tired. Give your patience when lessons go long, and give your presence when the day feels ordinary. As Scripture reminds us, “Freely you have received; freely give.”  

But here’s the hard truth: you are not entitled to see the outcomes of your giving. When homeschoolers grow discouraged, it’s often because they long to see immediate fruit.  The quick return that proves the effort is “working.” Yet the harvest belongs to God, not to us. Sometimes the fruit will not be visible for years. Sometimes it will look different than what we imagined. Your part is to give faithfully; His part is to bring the growth.

Many parents are stalled in their giving because they are waiting for perfect conditions.  From the perfect curriculum, perfect room to the perfect season they can not give it ALL until these criteria are met. We tell our staff the same thing we want to tell you: we are running a school, not waiting for heaven to arrive. C. S. Lewis put it well in Learning in Wartime: “The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.” So give even when it costs. Give when it is inconvenient. Give when it hurts.

And remember this: you cannot give the gift of education when you do not practice it yourself. Become a student again. Read a living book. Think deeply. Practice a handicraft with your hands. Learn for the joy of learning yourself. These practices refill you so that the love of learning you hope to cultivate in your children does not run dry. Then give what you have gained-stories, skills, and wonder. You cannot pour into your children what you have not first received yourself.  Only a full heart can overflow and what you receive as a learner is what you are able to pass on as a teacher.

This is not a call to martyrdom but servanthood. Give faithfully. Give humbly. Give sacrificially. Trust God with the results. Give your life away in small, steady acts of service. Put your best foot forward and then get to work for God loves a cheerful giver.