Things that matter

If you are like me, you enjoy being able to look around you and see evidence of the work you have accomplished. It is rewarding to sit back and appreciate a job well done. It feels good to mark things off of a checklist. 

The problem is, some of the most important things we can do in a day are hard to measure.

 For example:

Love our Children

Be Patient

Show kindness to those who don't deserve it.

Humble ourselves.

Give grace.

These things don't fit into a spreadsheet well. That makes it hard for us to ever feel like we are doing anything of value when we are focusing on character training (theirs and ours).

while we homeschool. 

When I was reading the famous love chapter in 1 Corinthians this week, I saw it in a whole new light. Here's My homeschooling mom version: 

If I properly teach my children Latin Declensions, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have managed to get my children to  memorize their multiplication tables, master their spelling list and are read above their grade level, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I have, body, soul and spirit in the effort of educating my children that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

From what Paul says about Love, it's like the magic multiplier. If our love is at zero it takes everything else it's up against and makes that zero. But the converse of that is where the scripture  says, "Love covers a multitude of sins." and "Love never fails." If our love is going like it should, it takes whatever it is up against and multiplies it so we always come out with the right answer. It may not fit in a box you can check off, and it may not show up on your quarterly reports, but love is always the right answer. You can't go wrong when you choose love. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Cor 13:4-7