Bearing Fruit in Your Home(school)Намуна

The Watchtower

One summer, my two youngest children set their minds on becoming the proud owners of their very own goldfish. The plan was that both would ask for fish and fish tanks for their birthdays.

When my daughter’s birthday arrived, she received a fish tank and all the needed items for her future pet fish. My son, whose birthday was still a few months away, decided he could no longer wait. Anxiously, he asked his grandmother if she had a fish tank she wasn’t using, knowing she seldom threw anything away. Sure enough, she had an old one. She retrieved the tank from the attic, and my son cleared his dresser: he was ready for a fish of his own!

As he excitedly prepared to accompany me to the pet store, my husband looked over the tank to ensure it was still in good condition. Imagine my surprise when he exclaimed, “This isn’t a fish tank! It’s a lizard tank!” Before I knew it, my son gleefully replied, “Great! I would love to have a lizard!” They methodically prepared the tank for the next three weeks to make it a perfect home for his future pet lizard.

Throughout those weeks, I thought, “I’m going to have a lizard? What if it escapes?” Then I thought, “I’m getting a lizard because I was given the wrong tank? Are you kidding?” I never foresaw being in this situation!

Sadly, there have been times in homeschooling that I have looked around and have had to say, “How did this happen? I did not expect to be here. I never anticipated that a situation such as this would occur.”

I’m reminded of Proverbs 31:27. This verse invokes a picture of one who would lean forward and peer into the distance: observing, waiting, and closely watching for what was coming, like the job of a watchman. In the Old Testament, the watchman was looking for approaching danger to best protect his city.

Imagine yourself peering into the distance like a watchman, looking for what could be coming ahead to best protect and serve your family.

What a responsibility! How sobering it is to be entrusted with the job of watching over the ways of our household, like a watchman who peers into the distance. What might we see? What might we change? What warning might we heed?

While this is an awesome responsibility, it is also an incredible privilege!

As those who watch over the ways of our households, we have the privilege of being the first to hear of something happening in our child’s life, the first to realize something deeper is taking place within their heart, and the first to take it to the Lord in prayer, and the first to be able to point our child back to the Lord and His ways and thoughts.

With this heart and within this context, we turn to the topic of bearing fruit in our homeschool. Fruit is Christ-like actions or characteristics that are worked within us (or others) by His Spirit, eventually becoming visible to those around us.

We won’t bear the desired fruit if we approach our homeschool like I approached the “fish” tank: caught off guard and unaware of what would soon be taking place, scrambling to catch up to the present reality.

We can, however, be women who are best positioned to bear fruit ourselves and help facilitate growth within our children when we faithfully watch over the ways of our household: prepared and alert, prayerful and obedient, ready to serve Him and our families so that by His grace, we might have a fruitful homeschool.