WHAT COMMITMENT to Christian Education Looks Like
BY RON GORDON
T he year was 1970. High school sweethearts from working-class families, they took the plunge to commit their lives to one another. They had no savings accounts, no college degrees, and no tangible assets. They jumped into a rental agreement for a small, rural home. Only 20 years old, he had secured a job delivering Coca- Cola products. Fresh out of high school and just 18 years old, she started working in a clerical position at a local hospital. Before they could celebrate their first anniversary, a baby boy arrived.
A few short years later, it was time to enroll their son in the first grade. The youngest child in each of their families, they and their combined nine siblings had all attended local public schools, and their collective fifteen children were automatically sent to public schools as well. Still scraping by to make ends meet, this couple didn’ t have enough income to consider any other educational options for their son, or did they?
While they were raised in Christian homes, there was never any parental push or familial encouragement to consider Christian education. Along with a few other couples in their“ young couples” Sunday school class, they sensed a firm conviction to consider Christian education. There weren’ t many options, and homeschooling wasn’ t even on their radar at that point. The only Christian school available was a 45-minute drive with traffic, and it had just been launched a few years earlier. Nonetheless, they committed to making Christian education a requirement for their young son and sacrificed as needed to make this a reality.
This was truly a commitment, not mere interest. Interest will yield to fluctuating circumstances based on convenience and ultimately yield only fleeting results. Clarity of purpose leads to a courageous commitment to fight obstacles, challenges, and difficulties to ensure lasting impact. However, maintaining too many commitments or priorities prevents us from accomplishing anything substantial. This couple saw
THEY COULDN’ T HAVE KNOWN
THE LEVEL OF IMPACT THAT DECISION WOULD HAVE, NOT ONLY ON THEIR SON BUT ON
THE GENERATIONS TO FOLLOW.
RENEWANATION. ORG 21