Legacy - part 3

Event #3 – Enrolling our remaining two children in traditional school.

I know in my head irrefutably that God is good and altogether righteous. I know experientially that God is good, although sometimes, in His first few chess moves, it may not appear to be so. After 20 years of homeschooling, our first child was out of the house, thriving in collegiate life and growing in Christ. Our second child would be moving out of the house for her continuing college education in the fall, with our blessing and bright hopes for her. Only two remained at home. As was our custom every summer, we began to submit our plans for our family to God in prayer, and ask Him how we would best honor Him that year. For the past 19 years, we had felt the conviction of the Lord to homeschool.

Last year, the Lord directed us to enroll our third child in a traditional Christian school. That was a major change for our family, and though we didn’t see it at first, the benefits and lessons learned were life-changing. Usually growth is hard, and hard is what we experienced, but also great peace and assurance that God was working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. We learned, once again, that God’s purposes are not necessarily on our radar.

As we began to prepare for the next year, God began to nudge us in the direction of public charter school. We kept asking Him, “Are you sure?”, and He kept confirming. One of the many ways we knew this was from God was that, outside of an engraved invitation from God, Dave would not consider public education. That was said tongue-in-cheek, since our desire was to remain open to God’s leading, no matter where it lead, but when you do something for 19 years you begin to think that you will do it for the long haul. We prayed, did our research, and decided to enroll our two youngest in the local public charter school.

Everyone asked me what I would do with all of my “free time” now. The truth was, I didn’t know. Since the beginning of our marriage, I had always had children to take care of (well, at the beginning I was working so Dave could finish school) and teach. Now, without leading a bible study, or leading worship, I couldn’t begin to fathom what my life would look like without having my kids at home overseeing their education.

One thing I knew was that Dave wanted and needed me to be more involved in our business. And as the Lord was working out in me what it was to be united with Dave in Christ and to reflect the relationship of the church to Christ, the head, this was something that I knew I needed to do. I laughed upon reflection of my youthful expectations entering marriage. Never had I desired or imagined myself to be involved in business. Business law, accounting, marketing, business development and strategy…this was all so foreign and unsavory to my creative and analytical brain.

So I jumped in. Well, rather reluctantly, I dipped my toes in first and then slowly eased myself in.

We would start the day with an early run (or walk, when my knee was acting up from a tennis injury). Dave would go over the plans for the day, and we would pray together. I would get breakfast and the kids ready for the day. Dave would drop them at school and I would clean up, spend some time in The Word and conversation with Jesus, take a shower, and head into the office. Throughout the day Dave would share with me his plans and visions for the company or a project he was working on. I was gaining such a deep respect for Dave and the abilities God had produced in Him to run this company. Dave approaches business in such an unworldly way. His love for the Lord and desire to serve Him and others bleeds through everything he does and says.

God was giving me such great admiration for the treasure that my husband is. What a unique and godly masterpiece God was producing in Him! The vision and wisdom, passion and humility, conviction and steadfastness are the perfect blend for a leader in such a time and place as this. What I was seeing, was that by coming alongside my husband at work, helping him with various tasks, talking through problems with him, listening as he brainstorms and dreams, keeping him on track when his brain is so overloaded he forgets what he is doing, was exactly the best help I could be to him. God has richly blessed our business and we hold it in an open hand, as an offering to Him to do with as He pleases. May it bring great glory to Him and expansion to the kingdom of God.

Confirmation came quite unexpectedly at dinner a few weeks ago. It is a regular custom of ours to ask a question at the dinner table that each family member answers. On this particular night the question was, “How has God surprised you lately?” All of the answers were good, and I was praising God for His faithfulness to Himself, and thanking Him for His kindness to our family. It was Dave’s turn to answer the question and he said something to the effect that he was surprised at how full and sweet and precious our marriage is to him. He said that in the last few months he has felt such unity and support and oneness with me. He was surprised that our marriage could be this good. He was merrily mystified that we could work so well together and enjoy each other so much. I was humbled. My Savior is so kind and faithful in His gentling this stubborn stallion! Oh may I never stop learning and growing in my love for and knowledge of the One who is so infinitely wise and wonderful.


Post-Script

A few months ago, Dave told me that he missed my ministry in music and asked me to go back to Worst of Sinners (our worship band). I joyfully obliged! What a sweet, sweet Savior to love me so dearly as to bring softening to my hard heart and correction to my waywardness. I love Him so…