The Good Fruit....

Hopefully, one of the fruits of our home-education legacy will be that our children will be lovers of learning. We desire that they discover their God-given "bents" early in life...and that they are self-governed in pursuing those areas...with guidance and encouragement from those in their lives. Bria loves playing guitar. He has grandparents who support him in that interest and as well as a guitar teacher who shares his heart for worship and technical expertise at every turn. Bria doesn't need to be told to practice...unlike his years spent in piano study...he picks up his instrument and works hard on his developing craft. It's the same with editing. He likes to edit, therefore...he edits for hours...without complaint. I...personally, was a bit worried a few years back. It seemed as if he had "zero" interest in anything. As his mother... I was on a hunt to find his "bent." Now, he's pretty much on his own...with mentoring guidance coming in from the adults around him. He's a 15 year old high school sophomore, taking his second college course, working two part-time jobs for local ministries, and another... for a local production company as an editor. He also picks up freelance work filming/editing recitals and weddings... and such. I was obviously impatient and in panic mode then...all because the good fruit wasn't apparent to me. I didn't notice.... because I was so wrapped up in my time schedule...how it was ripening at it's own pace.

And, here's a shocker...Bria has read Matthew, Mark and the first five chapters of Luke in the past few weeks...without me knowing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I please get an AMEN?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I must admit that he's handled his 4 month long discipline very well...softening under it's pressure...turning from sin and pursuing righteousness. I'm not bragging because I know all of this...every tiny smidgen of it... is the Lord's doing.
(Mcabe tackles Spelling on his own initiative??????!!!???huh??????)

Okay...now it's Mcabe's turn to mature. And lo and behold....I'm recognizing good fruit. He's actually started to do co-op assignments without my prompting...and get this...sometimes he turns them in without my having seen them first. It used to be that he wanted my input on every draft...every sentence for that matter. He Googles on his own...writes book reports on his own...memorizes the Declaration of Independence on his own, films and edits music videos on his own....drums like a banshee ...my little boy is spreading his wings. We have him in a high school level writing course and he's been doing well...but lately, he's stressed and grumpy about it. Always the negotiator, he comes to me yesterday and places a deal on the table. If he can quit the Writing class (there's 5 weeks left before summer break) he will focus on Spelling (a dreaded area in desperate need of help) and Photography. He'll even enter a few photography contests (which in his world translates to "serious business") So as the day to day, hands on shepherd of his education...do I allow this 12 year old 7th grader to quit the Writing class to pursue other things? Is this giving him an easy out or some room to grow? As I ask the Lord for wisdom in this area...I'm hearing..........allow him to drop the class so that his spirit isn't crushed in the hopes that he will take this opportunity to fly.




(The World Through Mcabe's Lens)