The Things We Teach
This past week I got to attend a school program for Brynn and Lily.
For the better part of an hour, I watched them stand with their classmates and recite Scripture, poems, and other pieces they had learned. Then they sang.
One thing after another.
And they never missed a word.
I sat there amazed, partly because my memory is not nearly that good anymore, but mostly because I started thinking about all the other things they could have spent that time learning.
There is no shortage of information we can pour into a child.
Facts. Dates. Formulas. Technology. Skills they will need someday. Plenty of it matters.
But childhood only gives us so many hours.
And every hour we spend teaching something is quietly saying, This is worth knowing. This is worth remembering.
That struck me.
Because those kids weren’t simply learning words for a school program. Somebody had decided those words were worth putting deep enough into their minds that they could stand on a stage and say them without thinking.
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11 NKJV
Maybe that is what teaching really is.
Deciding what is important enough to hide somewhere deep.
And it made me wonder about the rest of us.
We may be finished with school, but we are still memorizing things every day. We rehearse worries. Opinions. Offenses. Ambitions. Things the world tells us matter.
Repeat something long enough and eventually you don’t even need the page anymore.
You know it by heart.
Which makes the question worth asking:
What am I learning by heart?
#FirstLight #Faith #Family #Leadership #Life #Grandchildren
First Light
www.firstlightblog.org
A daily reflection on faith, leadership, and life. One honest thought each morning to help you start grounded, focused, and full of grace before the world even wakes up.
By Nathan Clark