His Treasure Seekers

 Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 8

Growing up, my dad and I often butted heads as our iron wills came into conflict.  I felt like an oddball in our family, like no one understood me.  As I grew up, however, I realized that part of the reason my dad and I got so passionate in our disagreements was because we were actually alike in many ways.  By the time I was a teenager we had developed a healthy respect for each other’s strength, and disagreement between us became quite rare.

Chapter 8 was about personality and learning styles.  As I read through it I kept jotting down the names of people in our family who were described so well in certain sections.  Some of those descriptions don’t resonate with my own personality at all, but I see them in my husband or some of our children.  Oftentimes those are the things about them that frustrate me the most, especially when it comes to educating children who think or react to the world so differently than I do myself.

I think one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children is appreciation for the unique person God has created them to be.  My two older sons are incredibly different from one another, and I want to make sure they know that that’s not only okay, but it’s a good thing.

Elijah is very gifted with numbers, and at times it has driven Ian to tears when his younger brother comes up with answers to his math problems before he even gets a chance to start working them out.  But I remind him that we are all unique, and each of our strengths are important for specific things.  God has gifted Ian in ways that will prepare him for the work he can do for His kingdom, fulfilling a purpose that Elijah wouldn’t be able to do.

I want my children to have the self-confidence of knowing that God created every part of them, even their personalities and learning styles.  And just as they are uniquely valuable, so is each person they meet, created by God in a particular way to be used by Him for His own glory.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!