The day I said, “I do!” I had no idea what the future would look like. I was in love and all would be right with my world. I didn’t know I
would have to wait eight years before motherhood finally began. I had no idea that it
would begin so many other things as well, like
17 years of child bearing, seven more children, and something called homeschooling.
And then there were the 20 years of nursing,
diaper changing, and potty training. I didn’t
know that in my mid-50s I would still be
continuing in the disciplining and training
of young children. I didn’t know that I would
someday be looking back at 33 years of marriage and family with its ups and downs,
emergencies, fearful situations, deaths, and
disagreements. Had I known all this on my
wedding day, I may have just turned and run
back down that aisle. Sometimes, limited vision is a good thing. Always, we need a daily
faith to step forward into the future.
This year marks 22 years of homeschool-
ing with two college graduates, one trade
school graduate, one high school graduate,
Why all the numbers? Because the older
I get, the more I realize the brevity of my
days, and the importance of what is in each
day—I have a wider and clearer vision.
Expectations or Vision?
What were your expectations for life? Are
you living the life you expected? I was expecting a nice little house with a nice little
yard and nice, happy, children around the
well prepared dinner table; a dog and cat
near the nice fireplace, and a close, perfectly suited, marriage to an understanding spouse. High expectations indeed! The
difference between expectations and vision
is that our expectations are so very earth
bound and temporary compared to the vision God has for our lives and our eternity.
Our expectations don’t equate to God’s vision for us. His ways are so much higher
than our ways.
“O the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and
his ways past finding out!” (Romans
11: 33).
If expectations are earthly and perishable,
we should spend more time on the vision of
something more solid. Do we have a long
range vision that incorporates eternity? Or
are we still expecting something to make us
happy or content right now? Do our daily,
weekly, and yearly goals revolve around being a disciple of Christ or around earthly
things that can change in an instant? Temporal or eternal? We need a higher perspective for our days, as they turn into our years.
The fact that things don’t turn out the way
we expected is why we need guidance from
a source outside of us. It is because we don’t
know what the next day will bring, that we
need to follow Someone Who has gone before us. It is because of the fact that each
new day is the only day we are assigned to
live in, as yesterday is gone, and tomorrow
Sometimes, limited vision is a good
thing. Always, we need a daily faith
to step forward into the future.
www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
Editorial
Deborah Wuehler,
Senior Editor
Finding Meaning
for Today;
Gaining Vision
for Tomorrow
