Vision: Seeing Heart Needs

Romans 2:3-4

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Be Thou My Vision

by Eleanor Hull, 1912

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,

naught be all else to me, save that thou art;

Thou my best thought by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word,

I ever with thee and thou with me Lord;

Thou my great Father, I thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;

Be thou my dignity, thou my delight;

Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower:

Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:

Thou mine inheritance now and always;

Thou and thou only first in my heart;

High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,

May I reach heaven's joys, O Bright Heaven's sun!;

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

I love teaching - the knowledge, the hands-on activities, the prep work, the enthusiasm over mastering a skill or subject. I love it all! More than teaching, I love seeing children learn. Conversely, it is heartbreaking for a teacher to see a child struggle with learning.

For two years we have been on an incredible journey. A journey of learning about our big kiddos and about ourselves, too. It has been hard. And good. And painful. And beautiful.

We began our journey seeing and being surprised by intense needs of all sorts in our big kiddos: physical, emotional, cognitive. After hundreds of doctors appointments and multiple diagnoses, we felt like we were sinking. We were even more surprised by our own reactions to these previously undisclosed needs and challenges - heart reactions of sin and selfishness, frustration and fear. Though it has been painful, God has been so kind to flesh these things out in us, continuing in kindness and patience to draw us to Himself. (Romans 2:3-4)

As a mom and teacher of my children, it has become apparent that we have some learning struggles that remain undiagnosed in our sweet children. We have been praying for wisdom regarding the necessity of assessing these challenges. The practical, educator-side of me finds assessments an incredibly interesting tool for aiding children in learning. However, something else inside me has a big hesitation about spending time (lots of it!), money, and concern on further cognitive skills testing, especially cognitive testing that will tell us what we already know - academic learning is hard and academic learning cannot change the heart.

I have been sweetly surprised to see the hearts of my children desiring to fear (honor, respect, treasure) the Lord. I know from God's Word (Proverbs 9:10) that this kind of fear (honor, respect, treasuring) is the beginning of wisdom and that knowledge of God is insight.

We are often tempted to try to fix learning problems in order to best help our children. It is, after all, the most pro-active and responsible thing to do for our children's academic development. Unfortunately, academic learning, achievement, and success can become idols that consume us if we treasure them more than seeing heart needs in our children and teaching them to know and fear the Lord.

I love to have a song in my head and heart to help steady my mind against temptations and frustrations. We have been singing the song Be Thou My Vision during our morning worship time and reminds me to seek God's wisdom, and to trust Him for our vision. We are praying that we would see our children's heart needs and parent and teach them faithfully, understanding their challenges and victories in light of God's perspective.