Learning To Know God

Make it clear that we should be pointing our children to God it all the time needed.

This is family policy matters, a weekly radio show and Comcast from NC family designed to better inform listeners about the critical issues of the day and encourage you to be voices of persuasion for family values in your communities and your host NC family Pres. John Rustin for joining us this week for family policy matters.

While many of us are still in the throes of summer and summer vacations students in year-round schools across North Carolina have already started hitting the classroom.

Moreover just a matter of weeks. Schools on the traditional calendar will be gearing up as well here in North Carolina were fortunate to have a variety of K-12 educational options including traditional public schools, charter schools, private and parochial schools and homeschooling and with the growth of opportunity scholarships and other school choice initiatives more and more parents in our state have a real choice to decide where their children go to school now. Of course, academics, or a fundamentally important consideration is parents make these decisions, but many parents are also deeply concerned about the values and influences their children are exposed to in the school environment. This is especially true when it comes to matters of faith and finding ways to support and encourage the development of faith in our children today discussed his work toward that goal as a teacher, a missionary and a mother and joins us today to offer some practical guidance on how to balance educational achievement while at the same time supporting and fostering faith in our kids. Jessica Burke is a former public school educator turn homeschool mom and middle and high school humanities teacher. In addition to her educational background. Jessica and her husband worked as missionaries in North Macedonia for three years before moving to North Carolina. She now draws from her experiences in education motherhood in the mission field is a writer and a member of the leadership Council of the Southern Baptist convention's ethics and religious Liberty commission Jessica welcome to family policy matters is great to have you on the show. Well I am to so Jessica as we begin, the big question here kaput. When it comes to our children's education. How do we properly balance our desire for them to achieve academic success with our desire for them to establish a meaningful and living faith are certainly these two things are not mutually exclusive that they can be challenging in today's highly charged cultural and educational environments like this started by being careful that we don't think that education and school are defined pain bullet runway that we education but you know the only way I don't even know that it important. I school that 13 to 17 years, maybe a little longer if you go on to graduate all education lacked our entire life where all week learning and changing. Where praying to focus on the utilitarian purpose of education and what we do find that that but parents are first focus to be the heart. We have to make choices about education thinking about what person they are becoming the type school or child it can. Not going to say Graham to consider what they are being taught how escaping their humble people. Indeed, I think a good education should be humbling because it reveals where we are lacking virtually interesting and a great perspective.Jessica sounds like a broader sense, perhaps even more importantly than what our children learn the subject matter itself is why they learn. I can't get that from what you shared already. Was it so important for our children to gain an understanding and appreciation of the educational work learning process itself. In addition to just the subject matter. Yeah well, all people should be learning that we might know God and enjoying him forever. I think it might know all knowledge belongs to God.

So you are learning about his world about the way you ordered about it intricately. Dying of creation and about kids with damning and net learning about his world. We learn more about the more I learn about the stars in the sky. The more I prayed him as our Creator or the more I learn about patterns in math morning and all can the more I learn about how he intricately designed nature, the more I rely on him that might render a different light. I think the more I learned a smaller I feel the bigger I feel like I should learn that the great commandment to love the Lord your God, and I think there's no higher commandment education energy commandment is to love our neighbor, so he learns the people love God better. We should put what we learn to work we can love our neighbor better start that's a great thing to understand and consider now just because you are quoting part of Deuteronomy 6, which implores us, as you said not only to love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all her strength and to place God's commandments on our hearts, but to also impress these commands on our children and to talk about them when we sit at home and when we walk along the road and when we lie down and when we get up so basically all the time from your perspective, how how how does Deuteronomy 6 really demonstrate education and learning and teaching is a form of discipleship. Yeah, I know important parents were never great responsibility and privilege of discipling our children any educator and philosopher. Put it this way with her motto that education and atmosphere discipline in the light. It came with discipleship like you said all the time. We need to keep the Scriptures we need to tell them about God. We need to grandchildren his mom and teach him that we should fear God and serve him alive in the morning not giving that are serious so were supposed to teach teach God's word diligently.

Deuteronomy 6 makes it so clear that we should be pointing our children to God at all time part of their formal education and their informal education help think that that means that we need to be delivering sermons from our children naturally come out because there is nothing more exciting and sharing God's worry with our children listening to policy matters radio show and cast from the same family you can sign up to receive and to listen to the show online resources that will leave a voice that explains anyone go to our website family Martin so how can parents help children emphasize virtue overachievement. For example, particularly when it comes to school and education. Yeah. So we start by emphasizing greater test scores or other measurement we should evaluate whether or not our children's education is helping them love what they should achievement school doesn't reveal what the heart love even the most involved parent can't understand everything that's going on in the heart.

Nor should be that the Holy Spirit job and to encourage their children to be thinking about me at all to focus on virtue rather than achievement. We should crate them for their growth and character, virtue were really quick to praise them for grades and test scores were praising our children for displaying genuine kindness, self-control, love, and were selling what really matters to Boston. I think more importantly, to God, we have to focus on things that can't be measured how our children are being changed by what they are learning slow think that's an important lesson for all of us to consider because we are culture can be so focused on achievements and works in and things of that nature. Now I know from a practical standpoint at school sometimes and I was guilty of this myself, but sometimes kids can cut a check out at school if they don't understand why our particular subject is important or relevant. So how do you deal with this and how can parents help their children understand why it's important to learn about a broad range of topics to talk about a little bit if you would tell learning something or they'll say that it boring or that they don't need it and type of comment regarding grumbling usually because learning is hard because the work we have to do is hard and what it really selling that they don't know something they don't want to admit that because were prideful but we need to learn. I think that there's an unimportant subject that earlier.

All knowledge belongs to the Lord pursue knowledge or learning about him and it quarreled pretty important. My kids education.

I want to be careful that I don't great subject what I think most important time to billing our choices are really pragmatic, but were not programmed robot educating humans and our children need a broad education and really we don't know what is going to spark interest in them and what they're going to proceed later in life well is thinking of pursuing things later in life how to how can parents and teachers help children and ourselves, for that matter all learn the importance not only of education but of work which is really a vital part of the human experience.

I think these principles very much apply to us when we are in K-12 schools and post-educational learning and then when we enter the workforce were always challenged to learn and grow and to expand our knowledge. So what are some of the principles that apply to us. From the standpoint of work regardless of what their work. I need to do it, to the glory of God. But it my all barking on chat or my 14-year-old working on geometry D, street sweeper or a nurse again honoring God working with that's going to be happy with your work. I like my children that they had no control over whether or not that something but you have control over their attitude and how they apply themselves to it and I think we have to model death. Well, that's a great encouragement.

Since Jessica for families whose children attend schools that don't necessarily emphasize faith, how can parents help their children better understand how school and their education really can foster their faith and help them love God and love others better.

Deuteronomy we can help our children make the connection we share life with them. We can do this at the dinner table or lower, taking a walk, or even playing a game, you know, we can show them that history shows that God's people math and science reveals much about God and the arts remind us that God loves beauty literature teaches us how much about humanity can remind that house we are and how old God. So we can be talking about God every chance we can you know I think the conversation more naturally. I'm pursuing my own education and very way so I can grow and learn and serve God better and on modeling.

That's for my children but also I think we need to teach our children to serve others. There so many way that my children can apply what they're learning in school to serve it for the good of others, and it it's so good for them because that they grow they need to be needed. They're not working in school just for good.

Great, but they're working so they can do good to others, even the littlest one can use what they're learning to serve others closely with the camps just come for so we just got out of town for the week before we go I want to ask if you might suggest a few helpful resources for listeners on the topic of properly balancing space and educational achievement. As we've been discussing today. I really can be but loving God with all of your mind to be a great place to start. I think it's probably going to be a book that my children are required to read before they leave out.

I also love the part that this thirsty and in doing, helping parents and educators see the real purpose of education and I would recommend that people check out what they're getting excellent. Jessica, thanks for those recommendations. We will be listing those on our website and the transcript of this radio program.

So, if folks go to our website it into family.org again and see family.org and click on the radio show link them. They can get access to those resources that you mentioned. We appreciate you recommending those without, unfortunately, were out of time for this week, but Jessica Burke I wanted to thank you so much for being with us and for sharing all that you have with us on family policy matters. You have been listening to family policy matters, a weekly radio show and Comcast from see family to listen to the show online for more resources that will help you be a voice of persuasion in your community. Go to our website and see family.org and problem us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter