Feature Article: The Precious Present
The sunrise this morning was stunning. A quick glance out the window as I was helping my husband out the door revealed a breathtaking gold-fringed pink staining the multiple layers of clouds scuttling across the Oklahoma prairie sky. I promised myself that today I would take the time to watch it. I bent to a task and a few minutes later grabbed my robe and headed to my favorite Adirondack chair on the porch to catch the glory. But when I got there, the only thing left was a tiny soft spot of color on the far horizon. My heart sank. I had missed it. Again.
The little task was an urgent one, but not of crucial importance. Like so many things, it wasn't nearly as significant as the gift God had given me in the beauty of His spectacular morning artistry.
If we are honest with ourselves and sit still long enough to truly evaluate our lives, we will discover many tiny things that get passed over that are much more important than the big things on the "to do" list. In fact, I believe that those little moments are the main things that give richness and meaning to our lives. Let me give you some examples.
Teachable Moments
If you are an educator, you are familiar with the term "teachable moment." It is a time when a student's interest is piqued in a particular subject or is especially open to learning something new. Unless we are watching for these special times, we will miss them in the routine of school and life. Sometimes these moments are specifically school related, sometimes they are moments when the heart is tender and open to training.
We had settled into the new school year and, like all organized homeschool moms, I had the lesson plans developed, materials purchased, and we were moving along full steam ahead. Then I noticed something going on in the life of my 10-year-old son. He was dutifully doing the history assignments each day, but all his spare time was spent reading about the civil war (several centuries off the history I had planned for the year). After watching this happen for several weeks, I scrapped the planned history and gave him permission to follow his interest. He read countless books, watched videos, played games, and went to civil war re-enactments. He lived and breathed the time period. Then, in about 9 months, he had satisfied his curiosity and was ready for something else. I don't know that he ever read another civil war book, but 13 years later can still tell you about any general, discuss the battlefield strategies, and talk in detail about the political maneuverings of the day. He was ready to learn and he absorbed it like a sponge.
Obviously, not all of education can be organized around particular likes and dislikes, but I do believe that it can be applied in more areas that most of us think are possible. The key is to be paying attention and you can't pay attention if you are running like crazy throughout every day.
Windows of Opportunity
In a wonderful interview with Practical Homeschooling magazine, John Taylor Gatto implored parents to be aware of and take advantage of windows of opportunity. "I've come to the belief that there aren't any lives that don't have, at odd moments, tremendous opportunities available to them, but these little windows open and close, and most people aren't even aware that the window ever was open for them."
Mr. Gatto was talking about opportunities for service and for leadership training. After 25 years of working with students, I know that he is absolutely right. Like a gentle breeze that slips around us without our being fully cognizant of its presence, these little chances for our children to serve others, to create a little business, to assume leadership, to learn from a mentor slip into our lives and then slip out again unheralded. If we fail to recognize the gift or think the opportunity will wait for another day, our students miss out on something that could literally change their lives and their perceptions of themselves. Most people miss these windows of opportunity altogether.
Creative Pauses
Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote a delightful little book entitled Gift from the Sea that deeply touched me as a young woman. She spoke of "creative pauses" - a break from the routine that allows us time to dream, time to be inspired, time to be original. And, in all honesty, time to rest. I have found out the hard way that creative pauses are essential for my family's wellbeing as well as my own. While many of us will not embrace feminism as she did, the idea of creative pauses was not original to her. You will find it early in Genesis. It is called the Sabbath.
In order to train your children for excellence, you will want to cultivate a sensitivity to the moment and develop an intuition about what is happening around you. I invite you to take the time to pause, to look for opportunity, to notice a teachable heart. I find it quite ironic (and in keeping with our Lord's wonderful sense of humor) that the first step toward excellence and success is slowing down.
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About Jeannette
Jeannette Webb is the founder of Aiming Higher Consultants, a firm dedicated to helping Christian students gain admission to great colleges. She has a heart for assisting parents as they train their children for excellence. Jeannette works to empower families to make thoughtful choices for their younger children, to confidently navigate the difficult high school years, and then ace the college admissions process.
If you liked today's issue, you'll love her personalized consulting services that help you map out a holistic plan for your student.
While Jeannette is best known for her clear-sighted counseling, her clients feel that her biggest gift to their family was permission to be themselves.
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