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About a year ago, Gigi said to Tutu, “I’m not sheltering my kids. I’m greenhousing them.” What a fascinating thing to say, but what does it even mean?
A greenhouse is a place of safety for plants. It’s where the gardener nurtures their growth while protecting them from outside elements. A greenhouse sets the ideal climate for the plants inside its walls. Inside a greenhouse there’s light, warmth, clean air and the gardener provides water, nutrition, pruning and care.
Sounds pretty ideal and sounds a lot like how God loves us.
“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again…” John 4:14
“Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Genesis 2:7 (ask Tutu why this is her favorite verse)
“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,“I am the light of the world. Whoeverfollows me will notwalk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
The idea of greenhousing people is not a new one. It has been used in the business world for decades. In these environments, ideas are protected from nay-sayers and allowed to be developed thoroughly before being published. The result? Strong ideas that didn’t come straight from the hip. That’s exactly what we do when we homeschool. At our kitchen table, kids are safe to explore all their crazy ideas without ridicule from teachers or classmates. They have time to research and explore those ideas which develops strong critical thinking skills. They are not confined to what the textbook says or the limits of time. Yet they are absolutely protected from how the world tramples ideas that are different from its own.
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