Learning Teachers

Let me open with an apology. I'm a mama. That means that there are certain things about parenthood that I'm going to learn from that are, well, things we don't typically talk about. But, some of them just have to be shared anyway! So, just to get it all out in the open - I'm writing about learning something from teaching a little boy to potty. You're all sufficiently warned...read ahead at your own risk! :-)

Steven started potty training right around his second birthday. The training itself was so very easy, for which I was exceedingly grateful. All I'd ever heard was that boys were much harder than girls to train. Well, Olivia had been pretty hard. Angela practically trained herself, but about six months later began to have accidents (and never has stayed dry overnight) and continues to do so. So, considering that Steven was supposed to be tougher simply because he was a boy was a bit overwhelming to think about. Instead, he was my easiest. Within a couple of days he had it down, and has rarely had an accident since!

The problem with Steven is that, with a boy, it doesn't stop there. With a boy you have to worry about aim, both when sitting and standing. How do you teach a two and a half year old to aim?

And, that's where my point comes in.

I stay at home with the kids. Doug is at work. Steven is a mama's boy. Those factors all combine to form one conclusion - Mommy, not Daddy, is doing the potty training. What's wrong with that? Well, Mommy is not a boy! I've never had to learn how to aim! I don't have a clue how to teach him something that I've never known myself! So, I do the best I can...and ask Daddy a lot of questions.

Often in life we are in the same situation. As parents, we need to teach our children how to grow up in a culture we didn't grow up in. As Sunday school teachers, we struggle to teach lessons we are in the process of learning ourselves. As mentors, we strive to teach those around us even though we have never truly walked in their shoes.

So, many of us give up.

I have heard it so many times in our churches..."I'm not qualified to teach - I have too much to learn myself!"

So?!

We are all in the process of learning. I'm not really qualified to teach Steven how to aim properly, but I am the one God has put in place to teach him. So, it's my job. In the same way, we have to be willing to step up and teach and train even if we're just barely ahead of our "pupils" in the learning cycle.

The awesome thing is that we never truly have to teach without resources. God has offered every bit of help we could possibly need to teach and mold and grow others if we will just heed His instruction! We're not on our own! We're His tools - what a delight!

Let's not back away from teaching just because we feel inadequate. If God shows us a path, let's follow it wholeheartedly, learning from Him even as we are pouring in to others.