“…The problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It’s that you’re destroying the peg.”— Paul Collins

I can only imagine how many days my children felt like square pegs being shoved into round curriculum holes. Looking back at those frustrating years of home schooling, I now realize my driving pursuit toward “normal” were wasted time and energy against God’s unique plan for their lives.

Fortunately, these rabbit trails of normalcy didn’t last long. In giving up the plans I thought were best for my children, I came to discover His perfect plan for teaching each of them.

Here is God’s tried and true 5 step plan that will help you cultivate the “fearfully and wonderfully made” unique learner He has given you.

Find the Plan

Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Start with prayer. Ask God to lead you to the best ways to teach your child. Don’t get anxious when things don’t work. Your discoveries are learning experiences on how this child views and interprets the world. Praise God for the unique skills your child has. Ask for His help in finding methods to work around learning deficits.

Know the Plan

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Don’t ever doubt anything God has allowed into your family situation or your child’s life. His idea of a glorious future and hope is far beyond anything you could ever ask or think. His plan is the best, and that is all you need to know.

Follow the Plan

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

God’s plan for raising a godly child involves a relationship built on truth, forgiveness, and persistence. Training a child is not about a method, but developing a bond that allows your child to see God through you. Your bond to God and your child ties them together and teaches your child how to “walk in His ways” until they are ready to follow God on their own.

Trust in the Plan

Isaiah 55:8 “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.”

How God sees the world is very different from how we perceive it. Trusting in God’s plan means letting go of yours and not fighting against things that don’t make sense to you. God knows what your child needs to learn and experience more than you do, AND how to best teach them those lessons…no matter how painful they may sometimes be.

Understand the Plan

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.”

God’s plan is not to make your child like anyone else. His plan is to work within your child to make him or her a perfect piece of His divine puzzle. God’s ability to do things in and through your child is unbounded, so hold onto them loosely and allow God to will and do in their lives to perfectly shape them into His masterpiece.

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