I was talking to a homeschooling friend this week, and I asked how her year had gone. "We all grew," she said simply. "We grew spiritually, and academically, and in every way that mattered." She went on to tell me how she sometimes felt a bit insecure...had her children learned as much at home as they would have at Christian school? But in the end, to her, it came down to the fact that they had grown, and comparisons to schools and other homeschools did not ultimately matter.
Just the way she worded her response reminded me of Luke 2:52, and I found myself thinking about it often this week.
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
I think in the past this verse has puzzled me more than anything. It's difficult to wrap your head around the fact that Jesus was both truly God and truly human. (For example, if Jesus is God, how can he grow in wisdom? in favour with God?) But this week I stepped back from the puzzling details and focused on how this verse shows the full humanity of Jesus as a child.
By growing in wisdom, stature, and favour with God and man, Jesus was simply doing what all children normally do.
Indirectly, this verse tells us what God's calling for all children is. He expects children to grow mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially. I think my friend's measure for progress in her homeschool is a good one, and I hope I remember it when the day comes that I start comparing my homeschool with everyone else's.
These meditations sparked many others in me:
What is wisdom, and where does it begin? (Proverbs has a lot to say on this.)
How does growth happen? ("I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.")
What is a parent's role in fostering this growth?
I've also been reading a lot about Charlotte Mason's ideas lately (in When Children Love to Learn), so my mind also made some connections there:
How does all of this fit with Miss Mason's assertion that "Children are born persons"?
How does it fit with her thoughts on the role of the teacher? (to train the child in good habits and to "spread the feast" of the good, the true, and the beautiful)
Does this verse spark any thoughts in you?
