2025_S1 – Page 2 – Timeless Values Education

Protect Our Children’s Right To Be Bored

Song Y. Lee / 2025_S1

Children often say. “Daddy/Mommy, I’m bored.” And our response is usually,“Okay, okay, let’s go play outside.” Or, “Sorry, daddy/mommy is busy right now, so can you go play by yourself in your room?” Is that about right?In fact, it’s really important to play and spend time with our children. When children express that they’rebored, perhaps it wasn’t boredom at all, but a longing. We, as parents, also need to have the freedom tostop whatever we are doing and just have fun with our children. For us, we often take them for walkswhenever they’re bored. Sometimes children’s expressions of boredom can be an expression of their frustrations. In our family,with so many daughters, we’ve found that simply chatting and laughing together can be a powerful tool.This connection helps release their frustration and strengthens our bond. But it leaves us wondering: How long? How much more play time would ever satisfy them? By the grace of God, we’ve learned to respond (with a serious yet playful face), “Hey kids, it’s okay, it’s not a bad (weird) thing to be bored, because we all get bored in life. Let’s justpractice being bored, okay?” and then ‘deliberately’ send the child back into the midst of the boredom. Boredom holds equal importance to play in a child’s development. Boredom is when we get creative,when we get our hands dirty and it serves as a catalyst for creativity, nudging us toward unchartedterritories. However, today’s children have been robbed of their right to be bored. They have no time leftto do nothing and get bored because they are too busy studying, watching media, texting, playing games,staying online and never ending supply of stimulants. When boredom strikes, children start to sing songs. Sometimes they grab a crayon and start drawing onthe walls. One of the things they reach for when they’re bored is a book. Even teenagers need a boringenvironment. That’s when the passion to learn on their own comes into play. Someone once said.“The lack of genius in this day and age is largely due to the electric light.” “The lack of genius in this day and age is largely due to the invention of the electric light.” Although benefits of this invention are undeniable, it also diminished our precious time. Gone are thenights of sitting by flickering candlelight, embracing the companionship of darkness and silence, andengaging deeply into introspection through prayer. These losses may not sound so innovative, but areworth acknowledging in my opinion. In our home, we frequently lead our children toward moments of sitting still, referred to as “time out”.Time outs are implemented when excessive shouting and talking, sibling conflict, or persistentcomplaints after playtime threaten to overwhelm our hearts. “Okay children, now it’s time for you to sit still here on the couch.” (With a pleasant smile). When it’s ‘time’, my children know what to do. They go to their spots and sit down, and before you knowit, there’s silence and peace in the house. After a while, I let them go to their own seats. Youngerchildren are already asleep on the couch, while older children go and start their homework. Many times,I see them get started on something more productive. Most importantly, it is through these boredoms that children’s longing for God is catalyzed. If a child hasno time to be bored, they have so much less motivation to encounter God. In this context, we canunderstand more about John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ time spent in the wilderness. Take a look at Abraham. Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent (with nothing to do) on a blazing hotday when he noticed the Lord and two angels appearing opposite him. Suddenly, Abraham, who hadnothing to do, was given a tremendous honor: the honor of being able to serve food directly to God. Hewas also given the grace to save Lot’s family from Sodom and Gomorrah, along with the promise of manydescendants. Parents, don’t feel guilty about letting your kids get bored; that may be the time God has planned forthem.At this point, I’m sure some of you have thought to yourself. “So smartphones are the root of it all, isn’t it?” Yes, that’s right, it’s the media and the internet that steal our boredom. It’s imperative that we ‘wise up’and protect our children from them, so it’s important that we protect them as much as we can. After all,unless you build a fence and protect your sheep, you can’t effectively keep the wolves out. It can be important to expose children to a variety of exciting events, but we don’t need to fill everymoment of their lives with excitement. It’s okay to be bored, that’s when creativity grows.It’s okay to be bored, because that’s when we can encounter our Lord. Let’s protect our children’s right to be bored! https://youtu.be/B9RFXaj3GlI

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Importance of training

Song Y. Lee / 2025_S1

A father and his child are enjoying a delightful day at the park, walking hand in hand along the windingpaths lined with tall trees and vibrant green grass. They’re having a blast playing ball in the open field,their laughter filling the air. From a distance, you can see the sunlight streaming through the trees, bathingthem in a golden glow. It’s a scene bursting with happiness and wonder, almost like something out of abeautiful impressionist painting. The child dashed toward the tree to retrieve the ball that had disappeared beneath its branches.Meanwhile, the dad took a moment to look around, slowly exhaling into the breeze of the park. Then heturned his attention back to the kid peeking out from under the tree. Suddenly, he exclaimed, “Hey!” “Get down!!!!” His eyes widened in shock at the sharp command from his father. “Get down right now!!!” Confused but, the child quickly dropped to the ground, just as his father commanded. The father, keepinga fixed gaze from afar, then slowly bent down. In a soothing tone, he began to speak softly, reassuring thechild. “Now… crawl… slowly… to Dad… don’t look, just focus on Dad, slowly… that’s it.” The child crawled slowly toward the father, who knelt down and moved gently in the child’s direction. Asthe child emerged from under the tree, the father’s face lit up with relief. He swiftly scooped the little oneup in his arms and carefully pulled him away from the tree. With a deep sigh of relief, Dad tenderly pattedthe child’s back. “I really scared you, didn’t I? Okay, good job, but now look over there.” He pointed toward the tree where the child had been playing, and as the child, still cradled in his father’sarms, turned his head, his eyes widened in terror. There, hanging ominously from the very branch he hadbeen under, was a venomous snake, its body draped halfway across the spot where the child had beenplaying. The horrifying realization dawned on the child: that’s why his father had yelled so urgently for himto get down. The end. And just like that, the story has a happy ending. Let’s take a moment to calm our racing hearts and ask ourselves a realistic question: is a happy endinglike this possible in reality? Did you notice anything unusual and unrealistic in the middle of the story? Thevenomous snake? No, that part is quite plausible. The unrealistic element, in my opinion, lies elsewhere.To me, it was the child’s reaction to his father’s instruction that seemed a bit too far-fetched.Consider our reality for a moment. If a father shouted at his child, “Get down!” how would most children inthis generation likely react? Probably with a defiant: “Why?” or “Why should I?” Their brows furrowed and their voices filled with frustration. This reaction is all too plausible and realistic,yet deeply concerning. The thought of what might follow is unsettling, and a happy ending seemsimprobable. Children are incredibly honest and tend to act the same way whether they’re at home or out and about,repeating their home habits wherever they are. While the story above might seem overly dramatic, thecore lesson is clear: if we diligently train our children at home, we can guide them in the right directionwhen it really counts. The story above illustrates two contrasting examples of upbringing. The former child is well-trained, notthrough rigid drills, but through learning to trust and obey his father’s instructions unconditionally. On theother hand, the latter child hasn’t received any form of guidance and thus always seeks a reason orexcuses to disobey. Why is this important? In our modern era, teaching children unconditional obedience may seem outdated.While there are indeed moments when parents should explain in detail and persuade them so that theywill obey voluntarily, there are also critical times when children need to obey unconditionally without anyreason or excuse. That’s exactly the kind of training we need to give them. If children only followinstructions when they understand and agree with them, it fosters a mindset of living by their ownwill(stubbornness) rather than discernment of God’s will for their lives. It’s frightening to think that withoutlearning unconditional obedience, individuals might reject God’s will at critical moments, making choicesbased on their own sinful desires. And in doing so, they’ll miss out on many blessings of God, and thatreally hurts our hearts as their parents, whether they deserve it or not. When a child is still young under our care, parents take on the role of representing (projecting the imageof) God to some extent. Children, whether consciously or not, learn to interact with God through theirinteractions with their parents. In this context, it’s improbable that a child who disobeys their parents willreadily obey God. A child who grows up habitually disobeying parental instructions that don’t make senseto them may develop the dangerous habit that it’s acceptable to ignore God’s will when it doesn’t makesense to them. The results of such a life’s habit is severe. God’s love is persistent, and He works toaddress and rectify such habits, even into adulthood (Hebrews 12:5-6). Have you ever considered what the true opposite of obedience might be? While disobedience is theobvious answer, there’s a more eloquent term that encapsulates it better. In the context ofhomeschooling, which I plan to explore in a future series, we define the opposite of obedience as “stubbornness.” The Bible recounts how the Israelites exhibited stubbornness during their time in the wilderness (Hebrews3:7-8, GNT). In contrast, Jesus achieved perfection by overcoming His own stubbornness and submittingto His Father’s will (Hebrews 5:8-9, GNT). A stubborn child cannot learn to obey God, and that stubbornness leads to poor choices in life. If parentstruly love their children, they should train them to break their own stubbornness so that they can fullyenjoy the blessings God has given them. But here’s a practical question for parents. Stubbornness in children can be really frustrating. So, howexactly can we train our children to not be stubborn and instead learn to be obedient? Let’s explore some examples. We can start this training when

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Can Children Hear The Voice Of God?

Song Y. Lee / 2025_S1

Can children hear the voice of God?It’s so easy to think, ‘Children are young, so their faith needs more time to grow,’ which is certainly true.Their spirits, like their bodies, might have areas that need development. Yet, there’s a vital truth weshouldn’t overlook: despite their youth, their spirit is already fully formed and whole!Have you ever really examined the tiny hands and feet of a newborn? They’re so tiny, yet they have allthe perfect joints and bones for movement. Their fuzzy palms and soles are covered in an array of littlewrinkles, both big and small. And those fingernails and toenails! It’s amazing to see those ten shiny, clearnails grow a bit more each day. They might be tiny, but they’re complete with every detail!The same principle applies to spirituality. Children’s spirits are whole, complete beings, which is why thenotion that “children can’t possibly understand spiritual matters of this magnitude?” is often amisconception. Surprisingly (or perhaps more evidently), children are fully capable of fulfilling the spiritualtasks assigned to them. As stated in the scripture, “The sheep hear the voice of the shepherd.” (John10:3) Children, like adults, are also His sheep, and being His sheep, they are capable of hearing the voiceof Jesus. In the Old Testament, the well known story of a young Samuel who heard the voice of God. “Samuel,Samuel,” God called to him, and when the Lord called his name, Samuel heard the voice and ran to Elithe priest. Two intriguing details about this scene are that Samuel heard the voice of God and that hedidn’t recognize who the voice belonged to (1 Samuel 3).First, Samuel heard the voice of the Lord. Was it because he was a special child? Not necessarily. Just asElijah was a regular man just like us (James 5:17), young Samuel, lying down to sleep before the Ark ofthe Covenant, was a child just like any of us. The God who called Samuel by his name is the same Godwho calls our children by their names today. It’s not because Samuel was a special child, and it’s notbecause some children are special, it’s just because that’s who God is. Starting with Adam, God hasalways come to us first (Genesis 3:9). It will be the same for our children. They will be able to hear Hisvoice as He comes to them first. Children are not supposed to be unruly and uncontrollable creatures. They have the potential to bemature believers who understand how to surrender and obey God’s Word. This perspective significantlychanges how we view our children. When we fully recognize that children are spiritual beings and begin torelate to them, their spiritual potential is unleashed, and their relationships with us (their parents) andother adults are often reset in a healthier direction. When children hear the voice of God, we no longerneed to convince them or push them to understand; they naturally obey.Going back to the story of Samuel, isn’t it interesting that when God called Samuel’s name, Samuel didn’trealize who the voice belonged to? Well, when you think about it, that makes sense, because as a child,Samuel had never heard or learned that God could speak to him “personally.” So it wasn’t until Eli thepriest informed him, “If you hear the voice again, answer, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”That’s when Samuel began to respond to God.We can tell and teach our children. The wonderful mystery that God can communicate with thempersonally. https://youtu.be/hVSlHFORfnc

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