“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
Now, I am not a big fan of Lewis Carroll (that's for another post on another day), but he certainly said the above correctly. I'm afraid that too often I have lost the forest for the trees in both parenting and homeschooling. At the beginning of the year, I have grand plans, can clearly see the long-term goals we have for our children (namely, to become God-glorifying adults), and think that all the planning will lead us to the ultimate victory. But this year I am again reminded of how very, very easily I get sidetracked, distracted, off-the-track, --- what was I saying? Oh, yes, sticking with goals.
Since the first year we began homeschooling (back in the Dark Ages), I have kept our "Mission Statement" in the front of my teacher's notebook. Coming from the business world into homeschooling, I knew that we would never reach the ultimate vision we set unless we clearly stated our "Mission" in writing. It is amazing to me how many parents have no idea what their "Mission" for homeschooling might be. As I talk with them, I am sometimes discouraged to find out that the real reason they are homeschooling is a fear of public schools, a fear of what their children will be exposed to, a fear of how they will be bullied, what they will be taught, how long they might be away from a doting mother. Now, realistic fear is healthy, but 2 Timothy tells us "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." If the only reason you are homeschooling is out of fear, you should pray about whether or not you have truly been called to do this!
Even more amazing is how much of life we use up, waste away, let slip by, or just forget our own goals or mission in life. We fill up the hours, even the minutes, with busy-ness sometimes not even realizing that we are running from that all-important question - "Why am I here on this earth?"
There are a lot of things wrong with businesses today, and there were many poor or bad habits I learned being in the business world for so many years. But as with all things, we can learn from the positive elements (and the negative, but again, that's another post!). One of these is the fact - yes, fact - that if you want to see your vision become reality, you need a clear understanding of your Mission and Goals. As I look back over the past 15 years, I realize that although we started some school years with a clear mission and goals, most years I just got lost in the trees of curriculum, activities and life pressures; not a great model for my children and not working diligently to make sure they understood how very important it was to us that they knew Christ in a real and all-consuming way.
As we go about each day and get overwhelmed with the details of life, we are constantly drawn away from the real, meaningful actions. We get lost in words and activities, and miss those precious points of true connection with friends and family. We hurry and scurry about to get "it" all done and ignore the quiet tug in our souls to get alone and quiet with the One who is sweetly calling our new name.
What is my "Mission"? Sure, I could say "To raise Godly children" and that might be very true. But that is a vision - a "big picture idea", not a mission - and it will never help me to achieve the vision. "To use XYZ curriculum" might be the thing on my heart and mind right now - but that is an action to support the mission and goals, not the mission. Totally confused yet? Stick with my rambling, please - I hope you will be glad you did.
God through His Word tells us: "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." The Message says it this way: "Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word. Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good. Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place".
Too much of what I have done and continue to do is based on "whatever looks good". Too little is based on what IS good - deep down, cleansing, healing, changing, molding that only the Holy Spirit through the Word of God can do. My "Mission" in life and in our school is to allow the Savior to be LORD of all - for HIM to rule and reign in every nook and cranny, cleaning out the cobwebs under the laziness of my heart, shining His light into the damp, stinking corners in the basement of my soul to bring fresh life, and to cleanse the layers of grimy selfishness away until they are sparkling clean. My mission is to be a follower, a disciple, a servant. And then if I can just let GOD be in charge, it will be pleasing to Him, which is all any of us can ever desire as our mission.
