it with you here. This secret was hidden
from us for years by the most ingenious
deception. It was lying in plain sight all
the time, present in the simplest nursery
rhyme;of;all.;It;goes;like;this:
Jesus;loves;me,;this;I;know,
For;the;Bible;tells;me;so;
Little ones to Him belong;
They;are;weak;but;He;is;strong.
The secret of this earth-shattering,
world-changing nursery rhyme is that it
is not written to your children. They are
not;the;“little;ones”;of;line;three.
You are.
Jesus’;love;for;homeschool;parents;is
unconditional; it comes to us regardless
of our behavior. He loves us in the midst
of;our;weakness,;in;the;midst;of;our;in-sufficiency,;in;the;midst;of;our;idolatry.
He;knows;that;even;our;honest;efforts
to serve Him are doomed to failure and
fouled by self-worship. And He loves us
just the same. We are weak, but He is
strong.
Missy and I had been confusing
identity with performance, operating under the
assumption that who we are;is;defined;by
what we do.;But;in;the;Gospel,;we;found
that our identity as people is independent
of;our;performance;as;parents.;It;doesn’t
actually matter to God how well we perform, because His love for us is a free
and;permanent;gift.;We;are;not;making
a name for ourselves by laboring in the
trenches of homeschooling. We already
have the Name that is above all Names.
The;power;of;this;realization;will;do
more;than;cure;“burnout”:;it;will;com-pletely transform your homeschooling
experience. In our family, it has been the
catalyst for mutual repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation with Ian. It has
freed us to do what we love the most—
teach school—with joy and abandon. It
has even led to many of the academic
results;we;were;striving;for;in;the;first
place.;(For;example,;Ian;made;the;Dean’s
list at college last semester and plans to
come;and;work;with;us;after;graduation.)
Most importantly of all, though, the
Gospel will heal your soul of weariness
and;transform;“burnout”;into;simple;fa-tigue, for which a day off every now and
then;is;a;sufficient;cure.
So read the story of Hercules right
away—but;don’t;follow;his;example.;Rest
instead in the love of Jesus, and the fruit
of His labors will be yours in abundance.
Adam Andrews is the Director of the
Center for Literary Education and a
homeschooling father of six. Adam
earned his B.A. from Hillsdale College
and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. He and his wife
Missy are the authors of Teaching the
Classics, the popular reading and literature curriculum. They teach their
children at home in Rice, Washington. For more information, visit www
. centerforlit.com.
www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
What;finally;saved;us;is;a;well-kept;secret;known;to;only;a;few;fortunate
homeschoolers, but I am pleased to share it with you here.
www.artisticpursuits.com
Preschool
K - 12
· Drawing
· Painting
· Sculpture
THE Curriculum for Creativity!™
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