"Love of Learning".

Connections happen in strange places and take strange forms.

I connected with a guest at Chick-fil-a today while talking about the Romantic Era in American literature. In the last three minutes of my shift, I took her order and we randomly started discussing books. When I clocked out, she waved me over to her table and we talked some more. When she learned that I have been home-educated, she was shocked. "Wow," she stammered."I just...I don't know how your mom has instilled this love of learning in you."

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my mother has not instilled a "love of learning" in me.

I don't think that was ever her goal. Whatever she instilled in me was different. Honestly, the way my mother raised and educated me was close to sheer brilliance, on her part. You see, from a young age, she taught me that pure knowledge was useless.

I never learned to simply love knowledge. My mother never instilled a passion for just "learning" in me. She never indoctrinated me with "knowledge is power." Instead, she showed me that excellence is power.

Mom made sure I understood that being smart wasn't the goal. Seeking knowledge was not education. "Education", to her, was purposefully pursuing truth, excellence, and wisdom. She wanted me to have understanding, not just brains. She wanted me to be wise, not just intelligent. Mostly, she wanted me to have excellence. And she wanted me to have the guts to practically apply anything I had learned.

I mean, sure, my mom wanted me to be smart, like any other good parent would. But she wanted me to learn valuable things, not just things. She desired for me to have knowledge, but she wanted me to pursue knowledge of quality.

I think that's where the education my mother gave me differed from the typical, pre-college, modern education. She was wise enough to understand that memorizing facts by rote wasn't an education. Knowing stuff was not excellence. Being brainy didn't mean you would be successful. Amidst learning the typical things that every kid learns, like fractions and chemistry and algebra and even American literature, my mother instilled something more in me. And it was not a love for learning. It was a love for truth. It was a love for quality. It was a love for purpose. It was a love for wisdom. And by instilling those things into me, she taught me how to utilize raw knowledge. She taught me how to apply it. She taught me how to discern the quality amongst the quantity.

And I think that was brilliant of her. Because even if you forget some of the facts that your education poured into you, you never forget how to pursue excellence. You never forget how to discern wisdom. You never lose your hunger for truth. You never forget how to work hard. Those things stick with you, and those things are what make you truly successful.

"When you read the history books about outstanding individuals, you see that many of them didn't have brilliant minds. Instead, they had common sense and worked hard to accomplish their goals." -Truett Cathy

Until today, I don't think I fully explored the value of my education, or my gratefulness for it. And it's such a huge cliché and understatement, but I am just so grateful; and so mom, thank you.

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