The Beatitudes of Homeschooling

I was determined to submit something to this week's Carnival of Homeschooling, and Spritibee's week provided just the inspiration. This week is the "Bee" edition. What to write about, what to write about? Aha! Bees made me think of the Beatitudes Bee from back when I was a child at church. I don't know if anyone else remembers him, but he was the star of stickers, posters and more that taught children the Beatitudes from Matthew 5. He was just a cartoon bee, with captions like "BEE Merciful" and "BEE Meek". He was all happy and full of smiles, trying to show children that if they had these attitudes, then they would be "blessed", or as it can also be translated, "happy".

Unfortunately, I can't find a picture of that cute little guy - I assume he has gone by the wayside, replaced by newer, hipper, characters. But the "BEEatitude" can still inspire today's topic: The Beatitudes for Homeschoolers. While you can't make all of the Beatitudes work in the realm of homeschooling, I think many of the principles can definitely be applied. Let's have a look at a few of them:

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Mourn? Why would I mourn as a homeschooler? Hmmm, maybe you haven't been at this very long. Because trust me, there will be days that you mourn. It may be something as simple as Johnny having trouble with that pesky 7 times table, or as drastic as family strife over whether or not homeschooling is right for your children. There will be days the kids do nothing but fight, or a child fights with you over how/when/how long to do a particular assignment, or your husband comes home and says, "What do you do all day?" But with a little patience and determination, you are bound to come out the other side of the struggle and find yourself comforted. Johnny will eventually figure out that times table, siblings will eventually get along (until the next time) and family strife can often be defused with kindness, patience and love. (And depending on the family, mileage!) One way or another, mourning will turn around and you will find comfort.

"Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." One thing I've seen in the homeschooling blogosphere from time to time is a bit of a backlash against the "super homeschoolers". You know the ones - parents with perfect, angelic children who do school willingly for 4-6 hours a day, whose children take music AND sports lessons, who keep immaculate homes, and their kids are in college by 15 at the very latest. And some of them are so very SMUG about the whole thing. If *I* can do it (insert modestly downcast eyes here) then anyone can do it! Right. And I have some land in Florida... Don't fret, regular parents. While the world does need its share of doctors, engineers and 9 year old violin prodigies, it also needs an even bigger share of good citizens who are quietly doing a good job at living their life in a normal, everyday manner. The movers and shakers may be the ones who get seen on the surface, but the meek who live quiet lives of love and service are the glue that hold this world together.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." The beauty of homeschooling is that we and our children are never forced on a "diet" when it comes to knowledge or opportunities to serve. We can fill our hearts and minds with not only righteousness, but anything we want, any time we want, without the constraints of bells and buses. A child given the world, both spiritual and academic, can "eat and drink" his fill of everything good.

"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." Everywhere we look, we can see the handiwork of God around us, and what more delightful place to see God at work than in the lives of our children? With a lot of love, care and patience, homeschooling is one of the best ways to help assure that God's love is deeply implanted into our children's hearts. It's never a guarantee, because everyone is different, but keeping our children's hearts guarded from constant assaults from worldly schools is a good start. In the end, we all hope to "see God" when we look at our children and their lives.

By no means can all the Beatitudes be made to fit in a homeschooling encouragement article. The Beatitudes were meant to apply to our individual, Christian lives. But so much of God's word applies to more than just "how to be good"; it really is a manual for our whole lives. I hope this was an encouragement for you!

Be sure to check back later for a link to the rest of the carnival. It's sure to be a huge handful of good reading!