Dare To Be A Daniel

Over the past two weeks, my kids and I have been studying the book of Daniel.  We’ve talked in-depth about the captivity of the young Hebrew men and the emotions they must’ve felt as they were carried off to the foreign, pagan land of Babylon.  We speculated that they probably felt scared, vulnerable, angry, sorrowful, homesick, etc.  We tried to put ourselves in their places and imagine what if would be like if some foreign government landed on American soil and began capturing and carrying away all of the healthy young men and women.  As a mom, it’s a scenario that makes me shudder.  Yet, it was a very real event in the lives of the mothers of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  While Scripture doesn’t clue us in as to the names of the mothers of these boys, it certainly reveals a lot about the way they raised these young men were before they were enslaved.  

Check out Daniel 1:8:

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8

This verse jumps out at me as a hint of Daniel’s home life, pre-Babylon.  Not only did it require incredible boldness for him to speak out against eating the king’s food, it required trust that God would take care of him and his three friends.  So, how did he get to be so bold and courageous?  We can only speculate, but I believe these four young Hebrew men were brought up in homes where a fear of the Lord was present and utmost respect for God’s commands was imperative.  Given the outcome of their lives, it seems logical to postulate that their mothers placed great importance on the Scriptures.  

We’re familiar with he saying that “children are a product of their environment;” I suspect it rings true in the lives of these men.  They didn’t decide to be men of character and integrity after they arrived in Babylon.  Rather, these traits were assuredly etched on their hearts from a very young age.  It’s apparent that these young men were taught to honor God with their minds, bodies and worship.  In fact, Daniel didn’t seem  concerned with what anyone thought of him,  He understood that God’s opinion is the only one that counts.  

Considering a passage like this inspires and challenges me to continue sowing seeds of faith into my children’s hearts.  I want them to be able to fearlessly stand strong for the Lord, pursue purity, and reject the “banquet” the world lays at their feet.  My desire is for them to truly know God and be able to trust Him even when difficult choices have to be made.  

Daniel provides so many opportune teaching moments on what it means to wholeheartedly follow the Lord and I pray that my kids will be inspired as we continue to study his extraordinary life.  

**What are some ways you can instill in your children a life of devotion to the Lord?

**If “children are a product of their environment”, are there things in your home that need to go in order for your family to better honor God?

**Think of a time when you had to make a difficult choice and share with your children how God gave you wisdom and saw you through.

Education at its Best

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

I do not want to be a fool! I don’t want to do foolish things, and I don’t want to my kids to act like fools! I want wisdom, I crave understanding, and I desire to do what is right and best for me and my family. Many of you may know that I am in the process of homeschooling my four year old. Being that this is his preschool year, I am doing a hodge-podge of various curriculums to make sure that this year is fun and challenging for him. There are so many curriculums to choose from, and while I experience great freedom in selecting one that suits him best, I want to be careful to put Christ at the center of his education.

One curriculum that I really like for building a Biblical foundation for learning is My Father’s World. I by no means want to seem like I am advertising for them. There are pros and cons to this curriculum, and I often find that I have to supplement it with other things like math, phonics, etc. However, one thing the preschool and kindergarten curriculum really emphasizes is building a firm foundation in God’s word as well as exploring God’s wonderful creation. For example, one lesson is about leaves—there are science projects, art projects, songs, and letter recognition activities that center around leaves. BUT the one thing that stood out to me was this activity.

The gist of the activity is as follows: Go outside and collect a branch with multiple leaves on it. Bring it inside and talk about how the leaves are nourished by the nutrients in the branch. Then, we are supposed to talk about how the branch in our lives is God and his word, the Bible. We are supposed to remain connected to him so we can grow. The next part of the “experiment” gets really good. Next, we are supposed to ask our kids what they think will happen if the leaf decides it want to do its own thing and leave the branch. What if the leaf doesn’t want to be obedient anymore? What if the leaf thinks it can do better on its own…without anyone telling it what to do?

Notice here, we are just supposed to ask and not supply the answer. After they supply their own answers we pull a leaf off and observe. At first it looks just like the other leaves—healthy. As the week goes on, we observe the leaves on the branch versus the leaf by itself. Naturally, the lone leaf starts to shrivel and dry out. The other leaves that are connected to the branch still look pretty healthy. Then we discuss how when we decide that we know better than God, or we want to be God, or we don’t want to listen to God and the parents he gave us (i.e. we want to do our own thing) we suffer natural consequences for our rebellion. So while we are learning about leaves, enjoying God’s beautiful creation, and creating leaf collages, and making textured leaf paintings and drawings, and learning about the letter “L’, we are also learning how God holds everything together and that we should stay connected to Him.

I just want to encourage you to reflect on what the Bible tells us: No education is complete without knowledge of the Holy One. Our children’s every day education needs to point them to the awesomeness of an all-powerful Creator—thus giving meaning and relevance (i.e. what does this have to do with me?) to their education.
My agenda in homeschooling is to bring up kids with strong character, strong family support and relationships, and a love for learning. This is the route of schooling that God has placed on my heart. Your path may be a bit different, and that is OK. God may have directed you in a direction that looks far different from mine. I love that our walk with the Lord is so personal. So that being said, your kids may be in a public school, a charter school, a magnet school, a Montessori school, a secular private school, or a Christian private school. Whatever schooling route the Lord has placed upon your heart, I would encourage you to put Christ at the center of your child’s education—regardless of whether or not their school does so. This may require a lot of extra work on your end, but I guarantee you that you will reap the benefits of this and they will too.

Some Biblical Principles to consider:
Math—God is constant. Just as 1 +1 is always 2, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Science—True science points to a highly intelligent, omniscient Creator.
Literature—God uses stories to teach us his truths
Grammar—God’s word is perfect. Clear language helps us better express His truths.
Social Studies—History tells us His story. When we veer from God’s plan, big messes happen (which we should not repeat). When we stay close to Him, beautiful milestones are left behind for others to follow.

These are just a few ideas. I encourage you to add to these and put them into practice.

Prayer:
Dear Father,
Thank you for the knowledge of you, the Holy One. May we seek your face in all things and put you at the center of our children’s’ education. Please guide us in the path of truth, and draw us closer to your heart. Change the way we think so that our thoughts please you. Help us make disciples of the next generation. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.