This year I am taping this photo of my little niece to the bathroom mirror. Everyone in our extended family has a copy of this photo. It was taken during the glorious days of summer while swimming on the river. Christy was exuberant to “jump in” and swim. Her life jacket appears nearly as big as her happy smile. She is literally joy-filled. My brother took the picture and sent it out to all with the caption, “This must be what Heaven feels like!”
The picture will be a reminder that I am “Educating for Eternity.”
There are bound to be days when the discipline of children will require structure, a little pushing, some serious talking and reprimanding. There will be times in the homeschool when teacher/mom is not everyone’s favorite person. I will most assuredly see facial expressions of angst from my students. Those expressions have the risk of undermining my resolve to teach according to the Lord’s will for our family. It is then that I will gaze upon my niece’s smile and remember that I am “Educating for Eternity.”
Academics are a tool to work within the Lord’s will, but holiness, docility, and love for Jesus are the means by which we ready ourselves for work. The priority of spiritual awareness and the desire to know Jesus should be woven among our academic instruction so as to hold it firmly in the Lord’s gaze.
Educating for Eternity is fruitful because Jesus created us to know Him, love Him, serve Him, and be happy with Him forever in Heaven. Because we are created with this purpose, then it is the Creator’s promise that we will have all that is necessary to honor this goal.
I want to work faithfully in the Lord’s will so that these earthly days will dawn upon the reward of Heaven and my children will come into the pure light and fullness of Jesus’ embrace.
This is what Educating for Eternity means to me. The everlasting joy we will experience from the eternal love and presence of Jesus in Heaven is a joy which can never be stolen and is worth all the work here on earth. I want to remember expressions of heavenly joy when expressions of earthly confusion threaten to break my resolve. No goal is worthier and nothing can compare to this promise.
Dearest Jesus, we bring You our prayers for the beginning of the homeschool year. Please allow our hearts to overflow with desire to know You more fully as we teach our children. Shower upon us the grace to contemplate the joy of Heaven when we are faced with discouragement and frustration. Bring us to the end of each homeschooling day with a sense of peace and accomplishment. Lord, we ask that You anoint our efforts and empower us through the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go forward and take joy in the blessing of new beginnings!
Rita Munn
Veteran homeschooling mom of ten
This letter was written in 2005. Since that time, Rita’s ten children have “left the nest,” but her rambunctious grandchildren still keep her on her toes.