During my training in the military I learned some valuable skills. The greatest advice that I was given for success in the military was the 5r’s by a First Sergeant in San Antonio. He was retiring that year and gave a small token of advice to his new soldiers.
The 5 r’s are; the right place at the right time, wearing the right uniform, the right attitude and ready to learn. Basically if you followed these 5 r’s you would advance quickly. Now this can be an especially hard lesson to learn. Not the first three, I mean mostly they consist of being organized and punctual. The last two involve internal organization, and often the workings of the inner man are far more complex than simply looking the part.
I just finished my first official year of homeschooling, and while I did start this process with some understanding and insight, looking back I can say that it didn’t go as expected all the time. Such is the beauty of homeschooling! But I have seen the 5 r’s at work. Obviously if you aren’t present you won’t be doing any learning. Pajamas and comfy clothes are basically the uniform of homeschoolers, but ready to learn? Right attitude? Those can be a bit more of a challenge. If the student is at all stressed or frustrated, they will not understand things as easily as another who is willing.
I found this to be true in teaching my children to read. We discussed, we encouraged, we took breaks, we reviewed, did rewards, basically everything I could imagine. But something was not clicking and worse yet a bad attitude had formed. Now just the sight of the book became a bad deal. Total aversion. So the new plan was to do a set number of pages and celebrate small accomplishments. Little by little, cause now we were going at a snail pace, we all saw improvements! And before long that student was picking up books left and right to read aloud, alone. Total turn around. Praise God!
Disservice to God having a poor attitude.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to death. Revelation 12:11.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. James 1:2
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Tim 2:3
Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul; then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell in. Isaiah 58:9-12.
To learn humility is to learn contentment in all circumstances. Humility is not in what we own or achieve, but in maintaining a teachable attitude, a willingness to bend to the will of the Father. Jan Silvious