The Hidden Heart of Homemaking cont’d
In the second of our series, “Loving Your Children Well,” we have been blessed with contributions from several of our ministry partners. You will enjoy reading what Jane Cunningham has shared with us regarding the choices she and her husband, Gary, made to instill in their children a love of God, a regard for hard work, and the importance of stewarding responsibly all that is theirs to manage.
Education as a Life-Style
KNOWING JESUS: When our oldest son, Bret, was two years old, a neighbor asked if I would teach the Bible to the kids on our lane, ages two to sixteen. I offered an invitation to become a Christian at the end of each lesson. Having heard dozens of those invitations and seen the others become Christians, at age three our son was angry with me one night for not letting him ask Jesus into his heart. I had not realized a child that young could understand, but he taught me. That evening, he prayed for Jesus to come into his heart with a natural childlike faith. When he was nine, I had the privilege of hearing him lead his brother Scott, then three years old also, to the Lord in the back seat of our car, as we drove between activities. Life-style evangelism!
DOMINION: We taught our boys that when God created humans, he gave them dominion over the earth with responsibility for it. God planted a natural growing desire for dominion in them. We told them they had dominion over their bedrooms, and when they showed responsibility for that area, they would get more dominion to exercise which would feed that God-created desire; if they failed to take dominion, the natural built-in desire would be frustrated. That basic teaching covered a multitude of scenarios: bedrooms, cars, dating, etc.
WORK ETHIC: Allowances were not part of our sons’ upbringing, but there was always plenty of work when they wanted to earn money. We bought their clothes, but if they wanted an upgrade, they paid the difference. At age nine, both of them started mowing lawns, raking leaves and shoveling snow, and their thriving businesses grew as they did.
We promised them that we would match whatever they decided they wanted to spend on a car when they turned sixteen. We lived in an area where most of the children were just handed the keys to a very nice car when they turned sixteen. Bret proudly told his friends he paid for his car. A friend who was jealous of Bret began telling everyone he, too, had paid for his own car. Scott still has the black Mustang convertible he bought at age sixteen.
CHRISTMAS: We taught our sons that the story of Santa Claus was a fun way to celebrate Christmas, but that the reality was that Christmas is a celebration of God’s gift to us in the giving of His Son, Jesus. We gave gifts but did not overdo it. My favorite Christmas was not very traditional. On our way to visit my parents in Florida, we were delayed by highway closings due to an unexpected ice storm in northern Florida. On Christmas Eve at midnight, we turned off at Fernandina Beach on the east coast, headed for the beach, since the boys had never seen an ocean. In their underwear, under a full moon, both boys jumped in the waves with absolute abandonment and joy.
The next morning was Christmas, the restaurants were all closed, so we bought peanut butter crackers from a vending machine and headed to a sand dune on the beach to read the Christmas story together. As we were reading, the sun broke through an opening in the thick clouds to shine directly and only on our sand dune. I knew in my heart God was pleased with our simple celebration of His Son’s birth.
RESPECT and MANNERS: It seems common these days for children to call adults by their first names. Some waiters and store clerks even refer to me as ‘hon.’ I have corrected a few on that. We always taught our boys to show respect for older folks by using ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.,’ ‘Ma’am’ and ‘Sir.’ My husband and I still appreciate a restaurant waiter who says, ‘Yes, Sir’ or ‘Yes, Ma’am’, and by golly, they get a better tip.
PLANTING SEEDS IN THE GRANDCHILDREN: It is now my privilege to be teaching my two grandsons who will be entering a very different world than mine was in the public school when the day started with a Bible study, prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I started helping the oldest, now three, to learn memory verses. I wanted the children to have the truth of God’s Word written in their hearts before they encountered the distortions the world is offering as education. The first verse was: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) The second: God created people in his own image. He created them male and female. (Genesis 1:27)
Jane Cunningham
Jane has been an educator most of her adult life. As a Missouri legislator, Jane chaired the House Education Committee, and later as a Missouri Senator, chaired the Senate Education Task Force. Recognized as an outstanding proponent of education, Jane was awarded the National Leaders in Learning Award by Cable in the Class and was the recipient of the Legislator of the Year, awarded by the Education Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council. Now living in the Austin, Texas, area, Jane and her husband, Gary, have two sons and two grandsons.
