I don’t know if I have ever had a truly great day on the golf course. Even when I shot my best round ever, there were several things I could have and should have done to make it better. I have also had some really stinky days on the course, and the harder I tried to correct my swing, the more frustrated I got, and the worse my scores became. Needless to say, my attitude rubbed off on those who were playing with me.
It is easy to see that homeschooling is a lot like golf! It seems like even on our best days we see so much that still needs addressed in the lives of our children, not to mention ourselves. To complicate matters, the harder and quicker we try to correct things on our own, the more impatient we get and the more frustrated our children become until the day—if not the week—is ruined. God help us!
The character trait for the month of April is appropriate in lieu of the fact most are coming to the end of the school year. The longer we ride the homeschooling train, the more we realize how important it is to have increased patience.
Although there are many pragmatic benefits to growing in patience, the main reason we are to have patience is because we are to seek to be like Christ:
Yet for many years You had patience with them, And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.–Nehemiah 9:30
Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,–Romans 15:5
If God showed patience toward those He was leading, how much more do we need to do the same? His patience was demonstrated not by seconds or minutes like ours often are; instead, it was measured by years.
A second reason we should seek to grow in the grace of patience is that it reflects submission to God’s Divine timetable, not only in our lives but in the lives of our children as well. Each of us has expectations of how our day should go but what happens when God decides something differently? If we oversleep, do we automatically start barking orders like a drill instructor or do we take a couple minutes to regroup and make a new plan that gives due consideration to all parties? If we plan on a major project and a necessary tool breaks as soon as we start, do we immediately get upset or do we demonstrate godly patience? I would suggest that this is the stuff that true homeschooling is made of.
Finally, patience gives us an indispensable and emphatic reminder that it isn’t always about us. Our plan. Our goal. Our schedule. Our expectations. While there is nothing wrong with any of these things—and, in fact, we need to work through all of them—do we respond with grace that is based on our knowledge that God is in control, or do we throw up our hands in total frustration and speak faithless and fleshly words? When we demonstrate patience, we are telling God—who already knows—and our children—who need to know—that things don’t always work out like we had hoped they would and when that happens we are to show deference and flexibility.
My sons will forget my golf scores just like your children will forget their individual math and history lessons. There is one thing, however, that will always stay with them. And that is our attitude when things didn’t turn out quite like we wanted them to. Will those be pleasant memories or painful ones?
-300x147.jpg)
