It's our human nature to drag at the end of an accomplishment. Be it a school year, a home project, or a job assignment, it's our nature to slow down to a weary walk at the end of it. I mean, we're almost done with the thing, right? We've done pretty good, after all. Sometimes the goals we set at the outset of our race become not so important as we gasp for breath and hold our sides. Maybe I set the bar too high; big deal if I really (fill in the blank with your goal). I did good enough.
At the beginning of this school year I was fresh from a womens' retreat where we spent the whole weekend in Psalm 119, which is all about God's word. We reveled in its power, its comfort, its wisdom, its vitality to our lives. I had gone to the retreat without a plan for our devotional studies for the year...not good since school started in three days. We always do either a Bible plan (such as reading a chapter a day of a particular book of the Bible) or a book from a lovely group of biblical storybooks from Rod and Staff books about the semifictional Miller family (surprisingly, the boys love this Amish family!), but I didn't have a firm plan yet. While I was on the mountaintop (sigh) (grin) (going back in a couple months, Lord willing) I decided my goal would be to strengthen my boys in the Word this year by teaching through Psalm 119. No greater devotional than the Word itself.
So we did it! We started with our homeschool mission statement for a week or two:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 6:5-7
Then I took a section a week from Psalm 119 (which happens to be the longest psalm in the Bible) and we would read that section each day. I chose one verse from the section for the kids to memorize through the week and kept track of them on index cards that I posted on the bathroom mirror and the fridge. We talked and talked about all the life lessons that come from relying on the Bible throughout our lives; the verses gave rise to so many teaching moments that I hope they will pull out of their hearts when they are grown. That they will remember sitting on the porch or in the living room and hearing Mom describe that very life situation they are in the midst of, and the verse that speaks right into it.
When we completed Psalm 119, we moved to the Proverbs plan...a chapter a day corresponding to the day of the month (since there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, it's perfect). Now at the end of the school year, I feel like I have inoculated my kids well in systematic devotional study of God's word, precept upon precept, line upon line.
I'll be honest, there were plenty of days in the year where I didn't feel like fighting the good fight to sit and battle distractions that only seem to happen during devotions time. When I was feeling personal discouragement and didn't feel like I could strongly exhort them to do this or that when I wasn't having too much success with it myself. When I felt like the day was already overwhelming and if we skipped devotions we could jump ahead to other things. But as much as I could diligently do, I pressed on because I had set a goal to really steep my kids in the Word strongly this year.
Though my flesh is weary and I am so ready to cross that finish line that indicates the end of another school year, I want to finish strong. We did run a good race this year, even though I may not see the results of this particular "Word planting" for years to come.
What about you? Is there a goal you've set for which you can see the finish line? Have you had weary days along the race course, my friend? Take a deep breath and get back in the race. It really is a worthy one, even more so when we can cross the finish line knowing we gave it our all.
"I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal." Philippians 3:12-17, The Message
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