What Can the People of Laish and Hobbits Teach Us?

One of my favorite novels (and movie) is Lord of the Rings, a classic and wonderfully told tale of good versus evil. An interesting sub-plot in the Lord of the Rings is the danger faced by those living in peace and prosperity, oblivious to embedding doom. The Hobbits are peaceful and hardworking, blissfully ignorant of the rise of Mordor[1] and the danger that it poses to them and the inhabitants of Middle-earth.

There is a similar and troubling description in the Bible of another group of people living in peace and prosperity, unaware of their impeding destruction:

Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security … quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth … and how they … had no dealings with anyone ... But the people of Dan … came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burn­ed the city with fire. And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone... (Jdg. 18:7; 27-28)

Lessons to be Gleaned from Hobbits and the People of Laish

Peace and Prosperity can be Dangerous

When our lives are characterized by peace, tranquility, and prosperity, we are prone to be lulled to sleep. The Hobbits were unaware of the looming danger and were not prepared for Sauron's[2] assault with his armies from Mordor. The people of Laish thought all was fine—their lives were quiet, peaceful, and prosperous. They did not suspect a thing—then, they were attacked and destroyed.

This happened to Americans prior to September 11, 2001. Few suspected that evil men were planning to crash planes into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. Evil did strike—unexpected and horribly on a beautiful, peaceful September morning. Many lives were lost and destroyed.

What is true nationally is also true of our souls. Complacency through preoccupation with the material and temporal at the neglect of our souls leads to false security and spiritual danger. We naively assume that everything is fine when in fact we and our students face two mortal dangers.

Danger from Within

We have evil natures

In Genesis we read that Cain was angry when the Lord rejected his offering. God responds by saying to Cain:

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. (Gen. 4:7)

Our sinful natures are always crouching in our hearts—ready to destroy our testimonies, our marriages, our careers, and our students. We must be keenly aware of the sin within us that, like the dark forces of Mordor, seeks to rise from within to devour our lives. This is why Jesus taught us to pray: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt. 6:13) He also tells us to: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt. 26:41)

Self-deception

Peter was convinced of his loyalty to Jesus—he proclaimed confidently that he was willing to die for Jesus. Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself.

Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same. (Mt. 26:33-35)

The tendency for us to think more highly of ourselves than we should sets us up for failure. If we think we are strong enough to overcome our own sinful natures in our own strength we are destined to fail and to fall.

Dangers from Without

Satan is a real and active enemy

Satan is not a metaphor—he is real. Satan is the Sauron of our souls. He seeks to destroy us by seducing our evil natures or through various trials and tribulations.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Pet. 5:8-10)

We must not, therefore, slip into a comfortable complacency. We must in fact be sober-minded and watchful—looking for Satan’s attacks and snares—from within and from without. He is crouching, looking, and ready to rip us and our students apart. He is ready to have us and them for dinner. Only the ignorant and complacent walk about unaware and unguarded.

Our Protection—Christ, His Word, and His Shepherds

In the end, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Pippin Took, and their allies saved Middle-earth and the Hobbits. In the end, only Christ, His Word, and His Shepherds will save us from dangers within and without.

Christ Prays for Us

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. (Lk. 22:31-32)

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Ro. 8:34)

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:23-25)

We must pray for each other and our students

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Th. 3:1–5).

Christ will finish what he has begun

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 1:3)

We must work as God works in us to both will and to do

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12-13)

We cannot isolate ourselves from the church

We cannot isolate ourselves spiritually like the people of Laish. The Bible describes them as having no allies, “And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone.” We need each other for encouragement and accountability. Attendance at worship and engagement in Christian community are essential. There are no Lone Ranger Christians. We need each other!

What This Means for Our Students

• They must be taught not to flatter themselves. Contrary to everything they hear from the world, they are not good—they have sinful natures that will lead them astray and destroy them.
• The world is not neutral nor a friend—the value system in this world is used by Satan to entrap and destroy. They must be alert to the dangers, they cannot be like Hobbits. They must lean on Christ and his word so that they are “not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of their minds.”
• They must nourish their souls in God’s word and through engagement with God’s people. A malnourished improvised soul is no match for a sinful nature, Satan, or his allies in this world.

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[1] Translated Black Land or Land of Shadow and in Chinese “a place where demons are many.”

[2] Tolkien noted that the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth "were capable of many degrees of error and failing,” but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron.

Does Success Spoil or Sanctify Our Students?

By most measures you and I are "successful." We live in a land of freedom and opportunity. Notwithstanding any financial stresses in our lives, we have shelter, clothing, and food. We have family and friends. Most of us are in good health. Compared to most people in this world, you and I are very "successful." We live in relative ease. So do our children!

And therein lies one of our greatest dangers. We and our children are easily spoiled. Success and ease tend to make us self-absorbed, self-sufficient, self-righteous, and self-seeking.

• We come to believe that "we are owed a life of success and ease."
• We and our children come to believe that "life is about us."
• We come to believe that "we produced our success."

We become autonomous, thinking that we do not really need God. We may not say we don't need him but the way we live?a weak prayer life, a weak devotional life, inconsistent worship on the Lord's Day, and the constant compromises we make in disobeying God's clear commands?all reflect what we really believe.

This is the danger facing Israel. They have won great victories and are now preparing to settle down in peace and prosperity. The danger is that their success will spoil rather than sanctify them.

There is a wonderful passage in Joshua following the wars in Canaan. The Israelis have just conquered their enemies and are preparing to settle in the new land flowing with milk and honey. They have been successful and are now preparing to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Matthew Henry describes the scene this way, "The war being ended, and ended gloriously, Joshua, as a prudent general, disbands his army ... and sends them home, to enjoy what they had conquered, and to beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks ... And, now ... Joshua publicly and solemnly ... gives them their discharge."

Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." (Josh.: 22:5)

Although these are somewhat synonymous for the purpose of emphasis, there is value in considering the particular meaning of each verb: Observe, Love, Walk, Keep, Cling, and Serve.

To Observe

To notice, watch attentively, fulfill and comply with. We are to spend time knowing, understanding, and complying with God's word. How is your Bible study? How is your attendance at worship?

To Love

: to have a great interest and pleasure in something. This exhortation is the essence of the "first and greatest commandment," to love God passionately, with every fiber of one's being (Deut. 6:5; Matt 22:37-38). The primary purpose and chief end of our existence is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever, to take pleasure in God.

Do you enjoy God? Are you more passionate about God or something/someone else?

To Walk

Walking means to order the whole of one's life by God's word and to be filled with his Spirit. When we rise up, walk through the day, and lie down at night, in ALL his ways?even those that are narrow and up-hill, in every particular instance?God's word is to be our compass.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut. 6:7-9)

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (Matt. 7:24-27)

To Keep

To honor or fulfill, to observe or pay due regard to God's commands. There is no "BUT" in the believer's response to God's commands! Believers are never to say, "I would obey but....." If we love God, we keep his word.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him ... Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. (Jn.: 14:15ff)

To Cling

To hold tightly to, to be hard to remove from; to adhere to someone, to remain persistently faithful to God and his word. We cling both out of love and need. He is our life! He is our life and our treasure?we grasp him tightly!

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (Jn. 10:10)

To Serve

Life is NOT ABOUT US. Life is about loving and serving God; life is about serving his kingdom.

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. (1 Cor. 9:10)

Our success in this life will either spoil us and our children or it will motivate us to show our gratitude by renewing our commitment to Observe, Love, Walk, Keep, Cling, and Serve!

College: Are Parents Getting Their Money’s Worth? Are They Getting “More” Than They Bargained For?

By Jeff Myers

This fall about two million American students will leave for college for the first time to receive an education at a yearly cost of $12,000 a year for a public university and up to $50,000 for a private one. Scholarships and grants reduce the cost for most families, but still, the Wall Street Journal reports that the average student leaves college with $23,186 in debt.

The total cost for this transaction is somewhere between 25 and 40 billion dollars. Per year.

Oh well, at least families are getting their money's worth.

Or not.

A recent study confirms what many parents have long suspected, that going to most colleges can make kids forget the things that are important and embrace values that are counter to what they learned growing up.

Before I share this study's results, let me say this to parents: leftist professors don't feel sorry for you. As far as they’re concerned, you’ve been oppressing the masses to get that money anyway, so it’s deliciously ironic that you not only turn your children over to the indoctrinators, but that you fork over 50k to 200k for the privilege.

Don't take my word for it. Here's what the late Richard Rorty, one of the most prominent philosophers of the 20th century, said on the subject:

"... I, like most Americans who teach humanities or social science in colleges and universities ... try to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own ...  The fundamentalist parents of our fundamentalist students think that the entire ‘American liberal establishment’ is engaged in a conspiracy. The parents have a point...we are going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable. We are not so inclusivist as to tolerate intolerance such as yours ... I think those students are lucky to find themselves under the benevolent Herrschaft [domination] of people like me, and to have escaped the grip of their frightening, vicious, dangerous parents ..." [editor’s note: sorry for all the ellipses, but it's hard to summarize Rorty's windblown rhetoric].

When it comes to reshaping values, liberal universities know precisely what they’re doing. About four out of five students walk away from their Christian faith by the time they are in their twenties.

The Indoctrination Route: Citizenship--Bad; Leftist Politics--Good

In February the Intercollegiate Studies Institute released its annual report entitled, “The Shaping of the American Mind.” ISI researchers studied students' knowledge of basic citizenship questions, along with 39 issue-based propositions.

They found that college graduates are dangerously ignorant of basic civics. For example, fewer than one in two college graduates know that the phrase "We hold these truths to be self evident..." is from the Declaration of Independence (10% actually think it is from the Communist Manifesto).

When it comes to political radicalism, however, colleges pass with flying colors. Graduates are significantly MORE likely to believe in abortion on demand and same sex marriage, and significantly LESS likely to believe that the Bible is the word of God, that prayer should be allowed in schools, or that anyone can succeed in America with hard work and perseverance.

The Transformation Route: Being Caught Off Guard--Bad; Being Confidently Prepared--Good

Obviously not all colleges are destructive. There are even a handful of great ones (I would humbly suggest that the one I teach at--Bryan College--is one of the excellent few).

But most Christian parents feel hamstrung. They are concerned for their kids but also realize that with few exceptions (such as flat-out genius) most young people have no chance of attaining leadership positions without a college degree.

There is a solution and it is available now. Please, if you have a college-bound student, listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. This is important even if your child is going to a "safe" college (some so-called "Christian" colleges are actually better at convincing kids to walk away from their faith than some secular colleges).

A two-week Summit Ministries course is a must. This summer. Find out more [here].

At Summit students ages 16-21 invest 12 days gaining the confidence they need to understand and defend an intelligent biblical worldview. They join a vast network of mentors whose books, writings and personal encouragement help sharpen them for life-long leadership. They stand shoulder to shoulder with newfound friends who help them stand strong.

Now Is Not The Time for Shortcuts

There is much at stake. Having your child read an apologetics book or go to a weekend conference is great, but it’s not the same as a two-week Summit experience, and here’s why:

1. At Summit students can ask questions as they arise. Over the course of 12 days students are able to form questions and interact with top Christian professors, mentors, and classmates. As they become comfortable, they open up in small groups, around the meal tables and in open forums with speakers. This gives students confidence that everyday people really can defend what they believe.

2. At Summit students enjoy being given the responsibility to think through issues as adults. Summit asks students to forsake adolescence and step up into mature adulthood. Over the course of 12 days they come to believe that it can actually be done.

3. Summit breaks the stranglehold of negative peer pressure. Young adults will seldom attempt to become anything more than what their peers think they can be. Summit students learn how to reverse this pressure and support one another in successfully thinking and living Christianly.

4. Summit provides personal contact with expert mentors. At Summit students spend 12 days with experts who have the depth of experience needed to delve deeply into the complex challenges they will face. These experts are specially selected based on their ability to communicate effectively with students.

5. At Summit, parents find that their parental role and their Christian values are affirmed and supported. Kids are always asking, "Who else says so besides mom and dad?" At Summit students are encouraged to honor their parents and be reconciled to them. This helps moms and dads strengthen their relationship before their sons and daughters leave for college, which is crucial.

Where Christian Leaders Send Their Own Children for Training

Summit is not a miracle cure. But for 47 years it's been a trusted source when it comes to preparing students to be the kind of leaders who shape culture, rather than who are shaped by it. That's why evangelical leaders such as James Dobson and Josh McDowell endorse it so enthusiastically. It's also why they chose to send their children to Summit before college; there simply is no substitute for the excellent training and mentoring Dr. Noebel and his staff provide.

I believe in the Summit. In fact I am planning to speak at every Summit Ministries session in the U.S. this summer in Colorado, Virginia, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Summit enrollment is limited by space. Most sessions do fill up, but you can download an application [here]. Scholarships are available for those in financial need.

Remember: Before College, Summit. Please forward this to any parent who doesn’t yet understand this.

Dr. Jeff Myers is founder and president of Passing the Baton International. Jeff speaks to tens of thousands each year on worldview and leadership issues. This article was taken by permission from Jeff’s E-Newsletter “Get Ready to Lead.” To subscribe, please visit www.passingthebaton.org. For more information on Summit Ministries, please visit www.summit.org.

*Richard Rorty, "Universality and Truth," in Robert B. Brandom (ed.), Rorty and His Critics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), pp. 21-22.

**George Barna, "Twentysomethings struggle to find their lace in Christian churches"; Ken Ham and Britt Beemer, Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do to Stop It (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2009), p. 24.

Wagging the Dog: Challenging the Backward Thinking of Parental Surrender

Guest Article by By Jonathan Nazigian

• There is a reason we don’t let 12 year-olds vote.
• There is a reason we don’t let 15 year-olds join the army.
• There is a reason we don’t let 13 year-olds drive.

Children are an incredible blessing from God, and we love them, but let’s face it, they are not the pinnacle of sound judgment. Ask any parent who has seen that glazed, deer-in-the-headlights look staring back at them after they’ve asked, “What were you thinking?” and you’ll know. There is a reason God did not say, “Let the child train himself up in the way he thinks he should go…”

Why? Because God, who created and designed us, knows we come into the world under the curse of sin. We are born in ignorance with our hearts bent toward rebellion. We are not, because of our sin nature, naturally prone to seek out God’s best over our own selfish desires. Just like us, adolescents struggle with many things, but the difficulty of their struggle is compounded with a profound lack the maturity and an absence of real-world experience that helps put those struggles into a better perspective. A few things we know . . .

1. Adolescents have little idea who they are (their true identity).
2. Adolescents do not successfully delineate between what they want and what they truly need.
3. Adolescents have lots of energy but are flooded with hormones. Hormones do not make judgment clearer.
4. Adolescents often have dreams not based in reality.
5. Adolescents are perpetually ungrateful and think the grass is so much greener anywhere else but where they are at the time.

And yet, even knowing all of this, many Christian parents will take the one parental decision that will have the greatest bearing on their child’s future—the decision as to who, aside from them, will most shape the worldview of their impressionable, searching, and vulnerable children for 40+ hours every week—and hand that decision over to the child to make.

As someone who has been involved in Christian Education as a student, a teacher, and an administrator for 33 years I have seen what used to be a rare occurrence grow into an astounding trend. Christian parents who leave the ultimate decision for their child’s schooling in the hands of their child.

Some parents do this directly. “Jonny, where do you want to go to school next year?”
Others do it indirectly; they cave in to their child’s constant complaining often directed at “the school” when, ultimately, the school is not the real issue, just the easiest target.
Others, who want to move their children from the public school system into Christian school, take an approach that is sabotaged from the start, “Susie, let’s just try Christian school for a few months, and if you don’t like it, you can go back to public school.”

It seems the tail is wagging the dog.

Where are the Christian parents who will make a decision in the best interest of their children and then fight for it, despite the external pressures and internal doubts that inevitably come? Where are the Christian parents who will stand their ground and fight for their children’s best future, even if it means fighting with their children in the short term?  Where is the Christian parent who will sit down with their child, look them in the eye, and say

,..To the child who’s being picked on…“Susie, I love you. And I know you do not like school right now. I know your friends are being mean, but just changing schools will not resolve the real issue. Mean girls are everywhere and you will face unkind people throughout your life. The best place to learn how to deal with them is in a school where the Biblical truths of peacemaking and reconciliation are taught.”

…To the child who has dreams of playing sports at the local public school…“Tommy, I love you. And I know you want to play football. But much more important in your life is your spiritual and academic future. I cannot sacrifice that for anything. I love you too much to put you under the influence of teachers, coaches, and friends who have other agendas and do not have your best interest in mind. We can explore township football, but when it comes to your schooling, Christian Education is a non-negotiable.”

…To the child doesn’t like the rules…“Mary, I love you. And I know you would prefer to wear other clothes and that you don’t like some of the rules at school. But your true character and integrity aren’t revealed by how well you obey rules you like. True character is revealed by how you respond to authorities and rules you don’t like. No place is perfect, but your spiritual formation is not something I’m willing to sacrifice to a public school.”

…To the child whose friends are leaving for public school…“Eddie. I love you. And I know several of your friends might be leaving for public school. But God does not hold me responsible for the choices other parents make. God holds me accountable for you. And I know that Christian school is the best thing for you. And I also know what real faith means. It means that despite how it feels right now, choosing to be obedient and to live God’s way will bring blessing, and that God probably has other and newer school friendships waiting for you.”

In the end, it all comes down to how we view what’s most important in the battle for the hearts and minds of our children.

Some parents view Christian Education like Karate classes or swim lessons—a nice little “extra” in their child’s life, so long as it is affordable and the child enjoys it. But if the finances get tough, or the child begins to complain, Christian school can be replaced with cheaper alternatives. Why pay so much for something my child doesn’t seem to like?

I choose to view Christian Education like food or immunizations. These are necessities to my family. I don’t care how much my children complain about having to eat balanced, healthy meals or the momentary prick of the doctor’s needle; my decision is firm, and it is for their best interest. And I will take a third job, do without vacation, or sell my furniture before I place my child in the furnace of an educational system centered on humanism, relativism, and cultural idolatry.

You see, God did not call me to a life of comfort, free from struggle. God called me to train up my children in the most Biblical way possible and to give them every opportunity to turn their hearts toward Him.

I refuse to surrender in this war.
Jonathan

A Gardener's Tale

By Boyd Chitwood, Ed. D.,

A story about growing – plants and children – by God's design.

A family once was given a gift by a kind and powerful neighbor.  He told them that at night, as they slept, he had planted for them a garden.  If they cared for it well, it would produce for them both abundant food and astonishing beauty.  What the family saw was a plot of ground with beautifully tilled, rich loam, and the signs of seeds having been freshly planted.

The father and mother resolved to care for it well; they were very grateful.  The son asked if he might have a small portion of the garden to care for and, though they weren't sure he was ready for the responsibility, they gave him a small corner.

They knew plants needed food and water, but didn't know much else.  The boy knew even less, so he resolved to get to know each of his plants very well, wanting to see them grow into all they were meant to be.

The father and mother watered and fertilized, and began to see growth.  They saw leafy greens and grassy shoots and were overjoyed.  The boy followed their lead, but also had been looking at every garden he could find, along with all the produce at the grocery store, and all the plants at the nursery.  He began to recognize some of his plants as they grew.  After awhile, though worried because his father and mother weren't doing it, he began to prune and weed what he knew wasn't true to the plants which were growing.  He also varied his watering and fertilizing based on the growth he saw, and he picked insects off the growing plants.  He tied up and supported some plants, and redirected others.

The father and mother continued to see a profusion of growth – the weather was warm, and they fed and watered the garden with dedication.  More and more things grew, though they weren't sure they could recognize much of it. 

In just a couple of months, both parts of the garden had grown much.  The boys corner wasn't as high or as green, but his had begun to bear fruit and vegetables which he knew were good to eat.  As they ripened, he picked them and more grew.  He also saw astoundingly beautiful flowers begin to blossom, sharing their sweet fragrance with all who came by.

The larger garden of the father and mother was a mass of vegetable plant stalks and grass and leaves with large holes eaten out of them and a few scrawny vegetables and flower buds here and there.  They watered and fertilized all the more, but were very discouraged.

The kind neighbor walked by one day and remarked on the mass of foliage in the garden.  He said they must have worked with vigor and dedication.  Perhaps they could come to his garden and look around a bit.

Then he saw the boy's corner and broke into a brilliant smile.  "Now this," he said, "is the garden grown up into the bounty and beauty I had in mind when I planted it.  Well done!"

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Education according to God's glorious design is about hard work, but not just about watering and fertilizing.  Growth conformed to the Lord's plan for each of our children is the standard of success.  With pruning and training, along with weeding and feeding and watering, we pursue the highest good for our children and the greatest glory for our God.