Reinforcement

My oldest headed off to sewing camp yesterday. It’s a day camp, held four mornings this week. She attended last year and loved it! So, we were delighted that she had the chance to go again.

When I went to pick her up, though, one of the teachers pulled me aside and told me she’d forgotten Olivia had attended the camp last year. This particular class was repeating everything they did last year, even down to the same project. Really, Olivia probably should have been put in the advanced class that does a different project every year after going through the basics that first year. I hadn’t even thought about it, nor had anyone else. We talked about switching her to the other group and letting her attend camp next month instead of this week. I decided to leave it up to her.

Olivia decided to stick with the beginning class again. The project was going to be different enough to make it worth her while, she’d get to go through the basics again, and she wouldn’t have to wait another four weeks to get to do sewing camp. I was fine with that decision, especially looking at the calendar for the next month! But to be honest, the most pleasing part to me is that Olivia will have some of those basic principles reinforced this year, especially since we now have a sewing machine at home that is similar to the one she’ll use at camp this week.

There are times when we as believers need to be bold enough to step forward from what we have already learned and move on to more advanced knowledge. But, I think we can also find benefit in following Olivia’s example. Sometimes we are so quick to rush to the next thing that we fail to reinforce foundational lessons and principles we have learned. We have been there and done that, and, to be honest, we act embarrassed or bored if we have to go through it again.

This thought comes to me every time I hear the song "Jesus Loves Me." How often could we stand to sing through that little tune to be reminded that Jesus really does love us? We get caught up in the maturation process and the deeper theological truths. Sometimes we might just need to come down to the foundational reminder that Jesus loves us. That He loved us when we were unlovable. When we were ugly. When we were blackened with sin. When we were dead. When we were His enemies. He loved us then and died for us. And now that we’re covered in His purity, He still loves us and longs to see us grow. Because of that, He works in us and disciplines us and matures us. But we wouldn’t be ready for all of that work and discipline and maturation were it not for where we started – with "Jesus Loves Me."

Don’t be afraid to repeat some learning every now and then. Only with a solid, maintained foundation can we truly go on to build a strong house.