Personalities

I received a copy of a homeschooling magazine, Home Educating Family, that featured an article by Sally Clarkson.  I enjoy and am always encouraged by Sally's writings. 

The article was called "Which personalities are the most acceptable?" 

I have six children.  They are all so very different, all going in different directions, all going at different speeds, all going at different sound decibels.  Their personalities are all different, too.  As a mom, it would make things easier if they were all the same - Christmas shopping, school books, music lessons, sports, concerts...

I have children that don't fit in the box.  They don't fit in the traditional "Christian box" and they don't fit in the "Worldly box".  They laugh too loud, talk too loud, dress too conservatively, dress too modern, dance when they worship, swing dance on Saturday nights, etc...

Well meaning advice comes from all sides. You shouldn't let them do that.  You shouldn't let them do this.

Sally writes that "We live in a world that values conformity.  We want to use our force, our power, our authority to make people, and our children fit into the box.  Be good. Be tame. Be moral.,..., Perhaps you prefer one type of personality, but all personalities are holy to the Lord.,..., if I had followed the advice of those in the world who just knew God's will, and told me to spank Nathan more, to make him fit in, I would never have seen God's will, would never had known the story of God shaping a young man's soul to be passionate for Him, to have the courage to dream, and to love Him unconditionally with his stripes and spots - just as God had made him."

Thank you, Sally.