I was helping out at Quin’s preschool recently, and the kids were working on patterns.
As we worked through “what came next” on a series of different patterns, I noticed how many of the kids worked very differently.
Some of the kids would try and figure out the color patterns on their own.
(Sometimes they were right; other times they were very wrong.)
And other kids wanted to wait and see what the answer was before they colored in their pattern.
(“Wait, what’s the answer? What color should I use?”)
These two approaches are pretty universal, right?
Sometimes we have questions and problems, and we do our best to find a solution.
Other times, we have questions and problems, and we wait for the answer to come to us before we move forward.
As an educator, I’m very familiar with where the most learning happens:
When we do our best to do the work and find an answer, whether it is right or wrong, we learn infinitely more than when we just wait to be told the right answer.
Abraham’s servant is such a perfect and sweet example of this.
Tasked with finding a wife for Isaac, the servant came up with a plan and presented it to the Lord.
“And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.” (Genesis 24:14)
The servant came up with a possible solution!
And the Lord agreed with the plan!
Now, he could have been totally “wrong”, which would have then made it pretty easy for the Lord to tell him how he would actually give the sign of the right wife.
But either way, this servant chose to at least come up with the plan, which is where the most learning and growth happens.
It’s so tempting to want to sit around, waiting to be inspired or told to do the right things.
Who should I serve? How should I simplify my life? What can I do to teach my family the gospel?
It takes a lot of faith, and setting aside “perfectionism”, to take fully formed ideas to the Lord and see what you’ll be taught.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
