Student Turned Teacher

In this world, there are those who follow directions and there are those who don't.  I find myself in the first group.  I like my box.  I like the sides; I like the top.  And the floor - that one's just not even optional!  Directions help me to understand what's expected of me; they provide a framework for my behavior; they tend to come with a guarantee that if I follow them carefully, I will reach the expected end destination.  Of that, I am a big fan.  Oddly enough, for all my direction-following tendencies, it's unsettling how often I don't really know where I am.  Sometimes, it is possible to turn your brain off while following the directions, to the extent that when you finally turn it back on and look around, you're not sure where in the world you are.  Keeping my brain plugged in while following the directions is definitely key.  Just ask my friends who dare to get in a car with me.

My son, bless his heart, falls hopelessly into the latter category - those who care not for the directions.  I usually see this as a fault.  Not following directions has the potential to create disastrous results.  As in the case of a math test.  I can't tell you how many times I've had this conversation with my son, "Dude, if you would have just followed the directions, you would have pulled an 'A' on this thing!  You totally know your stuff, you're just not following the directions!!"  Oddly enough, for all his direction-ignoring tendencies, it's unsettling how often he knows exactly where he is.  He may not always test well, but he's smart as a whip.  And it would be embarrassing to admit how many times my 10-year-old son has led his 35-year-old mother through a campground, out of a forest, down the right road in a new area, etc.  The child generally knows exactly where he is.

This past week, he had an AWANA section to complete.  The last one in his book, actually.  It was a review of what he had learned in the rest of the book.  His whole AWANA book centers around answering a set of theological questions.  A question is posed, and 8 different answers are given, each with a supporting Bible verse or two to memorize.  This review section asked 4 of those questions, and directed him to write in just 2 of the 8 answers he had learned for each question, as well as review a corresponding verse for each.  Simple.  Except that my son ignored the directions.

I've taught in AWANA for enough years that I know their answers to these questions by heart, and it only took me a 0.2 second glance to see that he had not filled in the answers they were asking him to review.  He had just made up his own answers to the questions.  Frustration surged in my chest.  "Dude, you didn't read the directions!  They're not asking you to answer these questions on your own, they want you to review the answers they gave you to memorize throughout the book.  You're going to have to do this over."  As he started re-doing the assignment on a separate sheet of paper, I took a minute to look at what he had actually written in the blanks.  Tears burned the back of my eyes.

Why did God give us the Bible?

1.  So I could know His Word

2.  To guide me

Who is God?

1.  Jesus' Dad

2.  The man who created earth

Who is the Lord Jesus?

1.  God's son

2.  The man who died for our sins

How does God want me to live my life?

1.  Following Him

2.  He wants me to tell other people about him.

Dear Lord Jesus, why am I allowed to be a parent some days?!  My son had not given the exact answers he was expected to give.  He had not followed the directions.  But he knows precisely where he is.  I held in my hands the proof of a tender faith growing in the heart of my son - his very own creed of belief.  Far more valuable, far more precious than any set of regurgitated answers.

I walked over to my son and placed my face close to his, "I just now really looked at what you wrote.  You gave really good answers.  You're spot on, and I'm really pleased to see what you understand.  We still have to complete the assignment the way it was designed because AWANA also has some really good answers they are trying to teach you, but I just want you to know that I like your answers."

To which he replied, with a hint of fire in his eyes, "I know, Mom.  I think us kids should give our own answers in our own words - that's how we learn, you know."

Amen.