Teach Them to Fish

We have one more year left until our youngest of 4 kids is 18. Our homeschool journey will be, formally, complete. This will have been a 20 year career, that has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Even though some days were hard, I can honestly say, waking up each morning to this job brought joy, excitement and great purpose to my heart. It's now assesment time for me. All I can do is look back on it and decide "how it went" for all of us. I don't get another shot at this one.

Our assesment tools depend on our values, which differ greatly among homeschoolers. They test both academics and character...spiritual and physical. It will take quite awhile for the testing to be done...a lifetime really, for my 4 kids. You can however, see quite quickly, the buds on the vine. The blossoming of their fruit. It's beautiful...hopeful...miraculous. It truly is like opening your hands and letting the bird fly on his own. Their strength and direction is their own now and so unique. They know we are here to fly back to any time they need help...that's a joy too. We also shout from a distance, on occasion, when we see them flying into dangerous winds, praying they hear our voices.

At this point, the first years after the takeoff, I can see that one of the most important subjects we taught was fishing. From the time they could feed chickens with their own pudgy little hands until they could push a heavy mower up a steep lawn, our guys learned to work and figure out "how to" do what needed to be done, both for themselves and for others. You have to have a good handle on the 3 R's to do this, but you also need to be unafraid of sweat, creativity, independance and thinking outside the box. Imagination is an intelligence that is highly underrated, and the best exercise for that is play.

We could've handed a neat and typical package to them and taught them "how things are done" in the workforce...graduate, be tested, go to college or university, be tested, spend umpteen thousands of dollars, let your brain be moulded by status quo, be tested, and then jump on the treadmill of life. Or, we can point them toward their calling. Make sure they have the tools, common to any successful person and the ability to learn any new information their calling may require, with confidence and wisdom. Then let them find their way to it, in whatever adventurous way God has designed for them. Which involves strengthening mistakes.

Each person is here for a reason. Each one has a calling. That calling or vocation, may include lots of money or it may not. It may be highly interesting or it may not be. It may be impressive or it may be simply necessary and vital. But your calling will suit you and bring you fulfillment...and food on the table. Shooting for the best and highest might not actually satisfy your soul. You realize that at the END of the road, not usually at the beginning. And even parents don't know exactly what that will look like for their kids, but we certainly know them well enough to point them in a right direction...and to teach them to fish.

Don't hand them the fish.

Put the pole in their awkward hands, make them dig for worms, bait their own hook, cast the line and then be patient. Hold the line, watch for opportunities, stand tall, and when you feel a nibble, do not hesitate to real it in. If you like the catch, take it home, or be willing to release it and cast again. We stand behind them always. Always watching out for them, trying to keep our hands in our pockets and out mouths closed, unless they ask for help...or they get all Moby Dick on us and set out on a suicide mission. Then, good parents keep being parents...to the end.

I used to think fishing was boring. I know now, there is much more to it than standing in wait.

It's an adventure and a skill for a lifetime.

"As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom..."
Daniel 4:17

24x36..."Teach Them to Fish"