I heard once that God made time in order to prevent everything from happening all at once. His graciousness extends to human growth as well. Imagine the stress of having to mature in one year, or having to complete a high school education by age ten. God had a better plan—to allow human beings to mature, learn, and grow at a saner pace.
A child cannot read the classics of literature without wading through some phonics training. She can’t be expected to solve algebraic equations without first counting many beans. Learning life skills is the same. We can start while our children are young to teach them to be self-reliant and productive. Taking advantage of the learning opportunities in the small moments and the small tasks of everyday life not only cements the bond of relationship, but also lays the foundation for learning bigger things. We have the time, if we will seize the small moments. Bonnie McCullough and Susan Monson, in their idea-packed book, 401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work at Home, tell us,
By the time your children reach eighteen years of age, they will have spent 32,234 hours under your guidance and training. Consider that it takes only 2,100 hours of classroom and outside study time to complete a bachelor’s degree in college and half that time to learn some skilled trades. Your home has sixteen times more teaching hours than does the university. What do you want to do with this time?
Reading that forced me to look at how I was using my own time. Am I engaging my children in life-enhancing activities, or are we just passing time? I don’t want to be an ogre who nags the children to do more, more, more, but I want to be a faithful steward of the precious time that we have together. Having come to motherhood a bit later than most, perhaps I am especially aware of how quickly these years are passing.
Life Skills For Kids: Equipping Your Child For The Real World
by Christine M. Field
I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. ~ 3 John 4
Dad