My little girl Vonnie has returned to the world of homeschooling this year, and it sure is paying off. She, and her old brother, are working with an on-line program that covers the full range of academic subjects, but also requires them to practice penmanship. Vonnie is developing into a very thoughtful writer, and I have always tried to instill in her (as I have my three other children) that the ability to write is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. If you have the gift, then by all means, celebrate it with all that is in you. Every day I challenge her to write a new poem, and in response I send her one as well. I think I’ve discovered a new way (new for me at least) to motivate my kids to write. Encouragement is the greatest thing to keep them with pen in hand (in addition to using the computer to word process), but I’ve also seen the eyes light up when I discuss the redemptive side to being a writer. Write in such as way as to bring words of life to others. Words hold the keys to the rooms of life and death, and it’s a matter of choice which door you open. ” And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. ” (James 3:6). What a great reminder of the tragic potential of an unbridled tongue, and yet how many of us can really say we’ve never used our tongues destructively?
Our children need a vision, not for greatness, but for living redemptive lives in a world consumed by narcissism, and darkness. How do we teach our children to recognize the calling that God has given them, because we all have a calling no matter how great we may be. Frederick Buechner put it this way in his daily meditational book titled, Listening to Your Life. “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet.” (p. 186). I have always believed that writing should be a redemptive activity so that the lives of others might be uplifted and nourished. My goal with writing poems back and forth with my daughter is to give her the spiritual and intellectual fodder she needs to develop her skills of communication as well as refining her writing voice in order to bring words of life to others. Oh yes, I would have included one of Vonnie’s poems, but she’s not given her consent to post any of them. I’m glad she takes writing seriously, and realizes that words are not to be taken lightly.
