The pressure of perfection
posted Saturday, July 2, 2005 :: 10:41 AM
Am I the only one who feels it? We are a Christian family, so we
hold ourselves to a high standard of personal holiness, based on the Lord’s admonition.
But
we are also a homeschooling family, and within that smaller group of
Christian homeschoolers, the pressure is even greater, both from within
and without the Church. The pressure to have perfect children, both
academically and spiritually, is on, and I feel it every time I am
around other Christian homeschoolers. It is the pink elephant in the
room. Perfect children automatically implies perfect parents, perfect
families, perfect homes.
News flash: my children
aren’t perfect, and either am I or my husband. We have our struggles
and trials too, some brought on by our ignorance or foolishness, some
random suffering as a result of living in a fallen world, and even
some, like Job, the result of testing. So I suffer guilt, which I
suspect is common among homeschoolers, but which everyone is afraid to
admit, so as not to be the only family with “imperfections” or
failings. News flash: every family has imperfections and
failings.
I think homeschooling parents are more
susceptible to guilt than most. We care so deeply about our children
and the outcome of their lives that we have undertaken enormous
sacrifices, which most families are unwilling to undertake, in order to
give them the best possible advantage in life. But also the buck stops
here. If they mess up, there is no one else to blame.
But the Lord does not require perfection of us …
to be continued ...
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Update: continued in The problem of perfection
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