One month of school done, eight more to go! Education burnout is real. Ouch! Cure the blues with some fun. Walk-in education is easy. Plus, it expands your child’s conscientiousness.
If you’re groaning under the weight of textbooks and assignments, you are NOT alone. Anna and I ALWAYS come from the place of keeping life easier for MOM! That’s right. Being Mom is hard enough without guilt trips. (For easy Homeschooling ideas, click here.)
We go full-throttle on fun when it comes to education, and yep, well, pretty much everything. You’re gonna love what Anna shares about sanctuaries and walk-in education.
3D Tactile Learning at Its Best
When you walk your children into historic buildings, you walk them into living history. It’s 3D tactile learning at it’s best. Our family loves restored homes, public plazas, museums, government buildings, you name it. Especially sanctuaries. Nothing teaches history and culture like standing in the midst of where it still takes place.
Plus, walk-in education has an added bonus. The stories of each place expand our conscientiousness. Sound crazy? Not a bit!
Conscientiousness Redefined
First, here’s a definition of conscientiousness you won’t find in Webster’s. Contentiousness—having a good conscience by giving glory to others and God with habitual humility.
Not your usual definition? No, but a person who is whole-hearted about others’ welfare will be the most conscientious by far.
Walk-in Education in Sanctuaries
Our favorite walk-in education happens in sanctuaries. Anna and I love the way they bring together history, language, culture, and sacred stories.
“Churches encompass all that because they are, in a way, museums,” Anna explains. Living museums, that is, testifying to past culture and current culture simultaneously. “They record history, they record what people care about. They’re very cultural. Anyone who’s been to more than one church knows that each body of believers is unique.”
All types of buildings reflect the culture that created them, according to Anna. For instance, throughout the world, sanctuaries bear witness to the diverse cultures of the people who built them.
Life-Long Learning
When you take your kids somewhere special, like a sanctuary, you teach them so much more than history and culture and values. You teach the art of life-long self-learning. Anna points out that standing in a sanctuary combines tactile learning with visual, auditory, and reading as well. (For more on being strong women from the learning styles guru, Cynthia Tobias, click here.)
“That’s pretty much an all-your-senses kind of thing when you walk into a building and start analyzing it,” laughs Anna.
Plus, the silence and the echo in most sanctuaries offer a refreshing change from the crazy sensory-assaulted modern world we live in!
Hushed Conversations with Mommy
The hushed expanse of a sanctuary provides the perfect backdrop for quiet conversations with Mommy. Teaching your child awareness and intentionality better prepare your conscientious child to serve others with understanding.
“It’s fascinating to me how that overlaps so well,” Anna adds. “It’s all about conscientiousness. How you use what God has given you to bless other people—with a church building.”
Conscientiousness in Your Cautious Child
Conscientiousness may manifest as over-protection, extreme caution, unnecessary meticulousness, or even perfectionism. We recommend being extra patient with your conscientious kiddos. They are worth the wait. Tenderheartedness is deeply ingrained in their personalities.
Most of the time, though, having a conscientious child is pure relief and delight for a mommy. We all need one kid we can count on to be reliable and safe. I like this quote for our conscientious kiddos.
“May we have communion with God in the secret of our hearts, and find Him to be to us as a little sanctuary.”~Charles Spurgeon
Time Travel and Other Benefits
Sanctuaries have a couple of added advantages. First, sacrifice is honored. Stained glass and other images make us aware of sacrifices made throughout history, especially Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.
Light through stained glass is one of my favorite forms of art. (Don’t miss what Anna had to say in our podcast about windows that honor God by letting nature in. And more about God’s creativity here.)
Second, there’s time travel. What? (For more fun, easy-on-mom DIY Curriculum ideas, click here.)
“I love it when I walk into a building, any kind of architecture and I get to time travel. And if the Holy Spirit is involved that’s like a double whammy,” Anna says. “It was a powerful feeling for me to realize I long for God in the same way as someone in the medieval era longed for God. The architecture allowed me to time travel and connect with the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, in another time, not just another place, but another time.”
Creating Sanctuary in Your Kitchen
“One of the other places in my life that’s architectural that I think of as sanctified are the kitchens of the dear women in my life who have prayed over me,” Anna adds. In our interview, Anna named specific women who’ve invited her in. They’ve let her speak her mind, whether or not it was politically correct or kind.
“They’re the ones in my life that just let me speak the ugly things in my heart and didn’t judge me. They gave me a cup of tea. Or a slice of pound cake,” she laughs. “Their kitchen are full of light and love and unconditional acceptance for me. They conscientiously sanctified those spaces by loving me well in humility. And letting me figure it out.”
Anna particularly likes the idea of women who have prayed ahead throughout history for future generations. (For more on fostering friendship, click here.)
“Women praying forward have to be conscious that their are generations to follow them. Then, they meticulously, conscientiously, humbly, tender-heartedly go before God and ask for benefits for generations they will never meet until heaven.” Powerful stuff! (For more on attracting a sisterhood of praying women, click here.)
The Throne of Wisdom
Some women don’t have the benefit of a wonderful mom or grandmothers, but YOU can create a sanctuary in your kitchen or any place.
“It can be a place where you embrace your own humble heart and your contentiousness. And you love people well. And you love them where they are. There’s no greater work than that,” emphasizes Anna.
“You can do that when you’re old and cannot even get out of your chair,” says Anna, pointing out her husband’s Granny as an amazing example of encouragement. Also, here’s a shout-out to our beloved neighbor Shirley Callon. We call the other chair in her bedroom “the throne of wisdom.”
The Sanctuary of Friendship and Fellowship
Speaking of great women we love, we are so grateful for YOU. You are a sanctuary to us because of your friendship and the fellowship we share.
The work you do today is very dear to our hearts. Thank you for being patient with your contentious children. We need them for the next generation. Please keep pouring into those sweet young lives you touch each day.
Don’t forget, you can find all our stuff here at CathyKrafve.com. Each week we bring you interviews with leading experts from across our nation. Our podcasts, blogs, and interviews are all FREE because we LOVE you. Please check out our stuff and use it to your heart’s content at home, at church, in community.
Wherever your beautiful, conscientious heart influences others, we applaud YOU!!
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May We pray together?
Dear Father, You Yourself are our sanctuary, a present help in trouble, a comfort when our soul is weary. Let us draw into a peaceful place with You now. You are our joy and delight. You release us from any past bondage and strengthen us for the day ahead. We worship You. Thank You for the privilege of encouraging our children! Make us wise teachers and counselors for them, O Lord. For all the beauty built by generations before us, we thank You. We see Your goodness in all creation, especially in our children and grandchildren. Give us grace to lead them well. We are Your grateful people. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen.
We LOVE to hear from YOU!
What women have created a sacred spot in your heart? Where do you want to go next for a walk-in education moment with your children? Whose sacred stories would you like to hear on Fireside Talk Radio?
Cathy Krafve, Columnist, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and Christian Writer, invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.
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