Teaching Apologetics: Raising Faith Defenders – Maria Hamilton, Part 1 (hosted by Meeke Addison) - Schoolhouse Rocked: The Homeschool Revolution

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
I felt the pressure, too. You know, people will ask, what have you used? And
to say the Bible seems. Feels insufficient, but it is not. No, it
should not be insufficient. It is the word of God. And showing
them to exalt God's word to its proper
place in the life of a child is incredibly important. Which
is maybe why we shouldn't start with other books first. Hey, everyone.

(00:22):
Welcome back to the Schoolhouse Rocked Podcast. I'm Meeke Addison, and I'm
excited to be your guest host this week. Today I'm talking with
my friend and super mom extraordinaire,
Maria Hamilton. We're going to have a great conversation about
apologetics and what it is to be faithful inside our homes. But before we
do that, we want to say a thank you to our sponsor, BJU

(00:44):
Press Homeschool. We actually personally trust BJU Press
Homeschool to come alongside us as we equip our kids to live in
this world. We don't want to work against our efforts and as we are
discipling them. So we want a curriculum that we can trust. And
BJU Press Homeschool has been that for us. We cannot
recommend enough that you go and check them out

(01:06):
at bjupresshomeschool.com that's
bjupresshomeschool.com. Okay Maria
Hamilton, thank you so much for joining me on the
Schoolhouse Rocked Podcast. There's so much that I wanted to talk to
you about because you've been such a blessing in my life from the moment to
that we met. And I heard your passion and your conviction

(01:26):
about apologetics and being able to give
kids a reasoned defense. It was something that really stood
out to me. And so I want to get into a little bit of that.
But I also want to tell Schoolhouse Rocked podcast
listeners that that's kind of what God has called you to. I
think of you as an apologist for children. You teach apologetics at our

(01:48):
local assembly, and you also direct our children's program
for the Culture Proof Conference that is heavy into apologetics
and teaching the discipline of what it is to not only follow the
Lord, but give a reason defense for that. Can you share with our
listeners just how that became a passion of
yours, maybe even a little bit of your testimony?

(02:10):
Yeah. First of all, so thank you for having me. This was awesome. When.
When I received the email that we were going to set this up, I thought
it was great. So, yeah, so, yeah,
when, man, when we first met, I remember being really inspired by
you also, because your commitment to what the Lord had called you to was very,
very inspiring. And so likewise, I feel like we have similar

(02:31):
passions, but just the. The way that God called us was slightly different. So,
yeah, I got saved. I want to say. I always feel like saying later in
life, but it really. I was only. I was 16, so it wasn't like later
in life, but I just did not grow up in church, you know, and so
when I started really seeking God and he really captured my heart, I had a
lot of questions and, and we've talked about this many times, but. But my questions,

(02:52):
you know, were from the simplest questions, like, you know, what about dinosaurs? To all
the way to understanding salvation and sanctification. And so I had
all the questions and I kept asking and the Lord kept answering. And, you know,
I'm very grateful, looking back, that I could have really been deceived, Meeke. Like, I
really could have been caught up with false doctrine because I
had so many questions and, and

(03:13):
I had the hunger to learn, but I wouldn't have known
if it was, you know, false teachings or proper doctrine,
you know, so I'm very, very grateful that God really put guardrails in my
life and taught me many things. So, yeah, so a lot of my questions
were answered, and then as I, you know, had children
and everything, and the Lord really called me to be home with them and homeschool

(03:35):
them and, and disciple them. It was,
it was, it became a passion in that I wanted
them to understand who God is, understand
that, that it is an intelligent faith. Because I feel like that was one of
my areas that I was
like, okay, I need to understand, because God doesn't. I always say this. God doesn't

(03:56):
require us to just lightly sprinkle ourselves with Christianity, right? He's asking
for us to give our lives. Like, this is like, put your whole weight on
me. So if he's asking us that, then asking us for that,
then I need to know that. I know that. I know that this is real
and this is true. Right? So I, I. A passion grew from
my walk with the Lord, and then as I started helping my children walk

(04:17):
with him, it just grew and it continued to grow, and then. And then it
just expanded from my house to other children, you know, and having the desire
to. To help them. And. Well, let me finish that statement. To help them
understand that. That God is real, that we can
intelligently understand that. That God desires, that we have faith in
a God who leaves evidence of who he is, and that we can

(04:39):
articulate. And as we always use the Scripture in Peter, you know, sanctify
him first and then be ready to give a reason for the hope that we
have. And, and God commands us to do that, and it's available to us,
you know, and so it's been a passion. It's been a great passion. God has
done great things. You know, just even like directing the
children's portion of the, of the Culture Proof Conference. I mean,

(05:00):
it blows my mind what God does every single year, you know, and it takes
a different take every year based on scenarios and how the
way we've been doing it. But. But in the room, in the classrooms, these
children are getting the same things. I want to say that the
adults are getting in this way. Right. Because a lot of the times, you know,
we want to downgrade what the children are getting because we

(05:22):
think that they can't handle the meat and the weightiness of Scripture. And that's not
true. Children can at 4 and 5 and 6, they can understand
the weightiness, of course, at their level, but they can understand that God is real.
And what he and his character, we can reveal. He reveals his character, and
we can help them understand his character, you know, and of course, understand the
scriptures and all that. So I just, I want to always make sure that we

(05:44):
understand that children should be treated in that
way. You know, they're human. They are. They are going to eventually
give their hearts to Christ if they haven't already, and they can be trained. You
know, I want to back up to something that you said that I think is
so important, because I'm sure that there are parents who are listening who are just
sort of like, you know, teaching apologetics can become

(06:05):
one of those things that's like almost like a stressor. It's like, okay, I know
I need to be able to, you know, equip my kid to defend the faith,
but I think there's a component of that that can be missing if we're not
careful. And you touched on this. Sanctify him first. Yes.
Talk a little bit about how we equip our kids, first of
all, with the gospel. We want our kids to be believers so that

(06:27):
they are actually defending something they believe and not something we
believe. What has that looked like in your home as a
homeschooling mom? You know what's very interesting, so Abe and I, my husband and
I were just talking about this because there's a
passion in me as well and in you guys as well. You know, we're friends,
so we know each other, but to equip children,

(06:48):
but we realize that we have to equip Parents, Yes. As we
are all learning. Right. I'm not saying this from a place, you know, that we
got it all figured out, but as the Lord has revealed to us, we are
seeing the need for other parents to be encouraged, number one, to
disciple their children, to train them up in the way they should go,
to help them defend the faith. And so I look
back at the years that I've done it, and mind you, my oldest is 14.

(07:11):
Like, there are lots of people that have a lot, many, many more years than
I do. But I am very grateful that God has showed
us. And
again, we can be very much deceived by false teaching and
even by sin. Right. Like the.
And based on your question, you know, I think of

(07:32):
the ability to be able to have an answer and just the flesh
all in that, you know, because you're just able to answer the question and you
can tell them about, you know, what the Bible says, but without the heart
transformation. Right. So looking back at. At the way that God
has really
discipled us personally, myself, my husband, you know, and then how the

(07:53):
Lord has guided us with our children. So I was going through a lot of
the examples. I was like, lord, how is it that we were able to. And
again, not perfection, but we were able to instill in them a biblical worldview.
Like, because I feel like early on, you start with, when you're parenting
them at little ages, you know, you start with maybe character formation, you
know, highlighting sin or. Or, you know, we don't lie

(08:16):
and all the things that happen daily, you know, the fighting with the sibling. And
so you start with the character formation with the idea that,
wait, God is. And he
desires that we be transformed. Now, this is before. This is before the child is
a believer. So you're kind of doing a lot of training of just character, and
it becomes kind of like behavior modification. And you're like, lord, I don't see any

(08:37):
fruit. So you're working and you're working and you're working daily, you know, and then
eventually, as you continue to present the gospel simultaneously, at the same time
as you're developing character, you are. You're showing them their
need for a Savior. Why is it that our sin, our sinfulness is
so ever present? Why is it that we always lean towards sin? Why do we
want to fight and. And take toys and, you know, all those things? And so

(08:58):
all those years are extremely important. You know, it's not just caring
for them from a place of, you know, providing shelter, make sure they don't die.
You know, we Feel that pressure a lot too, you know, but
also that, that, that heart that needs
to be softened and massaged and shown the way of
Christ, you know, and so the more the ahead. Well, I was just going to

(09:20):
say, so give me an example of what that has looked
like in your homeschooling journey. Because I think, when I think, I think
of you truly as steeped in apologetics and
when I think of, you know, asking and getting answers for
questions that are really difficult that I think a lot of parents might be
intimidated by. How did you begin kind

(09:41):
of laying the foundation for a business biblical
worldview and even an apologist mind for
your kids? Was it something that just was born out of a passion that
you uniquely have, or is it something that you would say all
parents could develop and maybe here's how you do
it. Yeah, so that is a very,

(10:04):
it's, it's a very heavy question. And, and I don't. It is. Here's the
difficulty. I feel like sometimes we run into the problem with parents that we want
a formula. We just want like a ready made, plug it in and it'll work,
you know, And God is not a God of formulas. He's a God of relationship.
And so it's, it's intimacy first, personally. Right.
Like, I had to grow and I continuously

(10:25):
grow in the knowledge and understanding that I need God, like I
need him daily. And so as I started again, I
started having kids and realizing they're going to come with questions. And I remember being
so scared at first because I was like, lord, they're going to ask me questions
that I feel like I'm just now learning or like, no.
And, and it's okay though, because the Lord equips you and gives you

(10:47):
the children and anoints you to be able to pour into them.
And so practically speaking, early on, you know, we would, we would gather around. Yes.
We would open scripture and read the Bible and we would. And you start in
the basics, you know, in the beginning, God. And what does that even mean? And
then going through, laying a foundation for them to think
biblically about God. Because I feel like the way I started

(11:08):
was, okay, is there a God? Like that was the. Because
I come from a background of really atheism, you know, and it
was more so a place where can I
even say that he is real? You know, because there are people who grew up
in church that are like, you never question that. Like, yes, of course. And you
have evidence because you have experiences. But I didn't have that so early on. I'M

(11:30):
like, wait, so is he real? So then when I started having children and the
kids grew to five, six, you know, when they're starting to talk and ask questions,
that was that. Those were the things I was wanting them to be convinced
of. And so it does take doctrine, it does take, you know, teaching
affirmatively. Who is God? Does he exist? Who is
He? How can we know that he actually is? You know, and of course, you

(11:51):
can go through the special revelation, you can go through Scripture, and
then you can go through creation and say, generally, look at the evidence for
God. Yes, you know, and so that's practically where we started. And it was just
in regular conversation daily. It's so good. I love that you. That
you stated that it really flows from our own
relationship with the Lord. Because I can think of

(12:13):
over the years getting so many questions that sounded something
like, and I'm sure you're familiar with this too, Maria, that the questions sound like,
so what book did you read? So what thing did you do? And I remember
feeling like, man, okay, I guess I should have something. There were
books, but I can't say that we just went systematically
there. There may have been some things that we did that we kind of like

(12:33):
we're working our way through this. But mostly I feel like the
engagement with my children has really been driven by
what I feel like the Holy Spirit is leading us to do at that moment.
You know what I mean? Like, if you see some character issues in your children
and you think, you know, we might need to unpack this, we might need to
address why this sin is sort of like being displayed in this way in

(12:54):
your life, or, you know, think about just the beauty of reading
God's Word. And I know that some people may hear that and they're like,
what do you mean? You just read His Word. It's like, but it's powerful and
it's His Word. And so often we can put so much
weight on what people say about God's Word that
we almost disclose ourselves from just actually reading His Word. Can you

(13:16):
comment on that? Yeah. No. And I felt the pressure too. You know, people will
ask, what have you used? And to say the Bible seems.
Feels insufficient, but it is not. It shouldn't be. Right? Like, why do we even
embrace that idea? No, it should not be insufficient. It is the word
of God. And showing them. Here's another thing that I know
you and I agree on. To exalt God's

(13:38):
Word to its proper place in the life of a child.
It's incredibly important, which is maybe why we shouldn't start with other books
first. Right. There are other aids. You know, we have support books, books that
support scripture and all that that we've used when they're little. But if we don't
start with scripture and, and explaining to them
that the Bible is God revealed, like it's

(14:00):
his himself revealing himself to us. Excuse me, I'm saying that too many times,
but in His Word. So when we understand that, that the Bible
is not just a book that was written throughout many centuries
by different authors, which we can use that, you know, but we have to start
with, it's himself, it's God showing us who he is.
So that's why we start there. And, and not to embrace that, that

(14:23):
feeling of like, oh, man, maybe I need to have some type of resource. And
again, they're out there. But if we start there, then again, like you're saying we're
using what, what we think about God to teach
our children instead of starting. Right, because I can follow, but
starting. What does God say about himself?
Humanity to humanity from the beginning of time, what does he

(14:45):
say about himself? And then. And that's our anchor. And then we start there, then
we can use the additional support materials that are great, you know,
to, to help us navigate it and maybe answer the questions that
we may be struggling with. But yeah, we have to exalt the word of God.
And just briefly, when we say open up the word of God every day.
Yes. You know, the little ones, we can read

(15:07):
a set of scriptures, if not a whole chapter, you know, and say, okay, well,
what does this mean? What is God saying here? And being led by the spirit
of God. Guys, we can't. I mean, it cannot be. In our own strength, we
will fall short and fail miserably. It has to be dependent upon God.
But it's important that our children understand not only the exaltation of his word, but
exalting him in our lives. Yeah, that's so good. All right,

(15:28):
we're going to grab a quick break here and then on the other side of
the break, we'll come back and you're going to share with us some of those
indicators that let you know that you're getting it right. And then we'll talk
about some of those indicators that say maybe I need to tighten up in this
area. We'll talk a little bit about that right after the break.

(17:29):
All right, we are back and our guest is Maria Hamilton. And
I failed to mention this, and I know that this is totally okay. I know
that there's some feminist among us who would hate that
a part of our identities as wives is that who our
husbands are. Right. Like that matters. That's a part of who I am. I am
the wife of Will the Great Addison. And you are the wife of Abraham

(17:50):
Hamilton iii. And. And he's been on the Schoolhouse Rock podcast before,
so I think it's important to note that. Maria Hamilton,
thank you so much for being my guest. I appreciate you. Thank you for having
me. It's been awesome already. So I want to continue the discussion, right? Because
when we start talking about equipping our kids at home, and we are doing
things that are very much countercultural, and we're doing that on purpose. There

(18:12):
are those days that it feels like you're floating on butter
through your house. Like, you're just like, yeah, yeah, okay, this is great. And you're
checking all of the boxes. So what does it look like for
Maria when you get to the end of the day and you're
like, thank you, Lord. Okay, we. Today was a good day. What does
that look like? The good days. The good days. Okay, so the good days. Here

(18:34):
we go. So. Because, you know, it's real. It's
real. In these streets, we always say this, but it's true. It's real. So, you
know, my. I remember early on when they were little, you know,
schooling was 20 minutes a day. It was great. I remember
early on feeling overwhelmed, you know, when I had two
kids, feeling overwhelmed and feeling like, oh, my gosh, how am I going to get

(18:56):
everything done and cleaning and washing and all the things. And I remember sitting down
and venting to my husband and just saying, I don't know how I can do
this. God called me to homeschool, which means I gotta. You know, I'm home and
I have the time, and I need to invest the time in them, and I'm
shaping their hearts. And. Yes, but I have all these other things to do. And
he said, listen, you need to remember that the most

(19:16):
important thing in this calling that God has given you or this.
This assignment that you have is to instilling them a love
for God. So if you don't do anything else, dishes don't get
washed, clothes don't get washed. You know, they don't get to math.
You've told them and taught them about God, even if it was a moment
of character, you know, formation and exposure to sin and need

(19:38):
for a savior, even if it's that, like, that was a
success. And so letting go of the pressures
first to compete with other moms
and to. And to try to be the superhuman.
I think it's a wrong start. It's the wrong place, right? Because first
we need God, so we need dependence upon God and we need to let

(20:00):
go of any other pressure that God is not putting upon us, right?
So it's incredibly important that we do what he
has called us to do, which is sanctify the Lord in your heart. Like, make
him first, right? And then from there you continue
to work and do. And it is not that I sit. You sit back and
you have time to like, fan yourself on the couch. Like, that doesn't happen. You

(20:23):
know, we don't have time for that. But there. There is.
You are working and you are going. But it should be with
rejoicing and it should be with a sense of
satisfaction where you say, you know what I've
done? I did the most important thing today. Even if I didn't get to all
the other things, I did the most important thing. We broke open the scriptures and

(20:43):
we talked, and I was able to have a one on one with one of
them on, you know, heart matter. And that was awesome. And
so though I think that for the. At the end of the day, when I
look back, I'm like, okay, if that happened, if I was able to really be
intentional, even if it was one hour a day with something, it was. It was
worth it. You know, that's so good. And I just try to do that. I
try my best to do that. And I. And another component that. That

(21:06):
I have grown in because this is something that happens and, you know,
this God reveals his character, and then he reveals our flaws and
how we're not lining up with his character. And then he uses our daily grind
to shape us. That's right. We're like him. That's right.
I, Eileen, which is my husband, so blessed.
I lean a little bit more flexible, you know, a little bit more

(21:28):
chilling. And so I have learned and realized that God is a
God of detail and a God of order. And so I have been stretched in
this area and grown in this area. And I'm very glad for that. God
is. Desires that we have a monogram of
structure, you know, and responsibility, and it's good. And so I
have determined that every day I wake up and of course I have my private

(21:50):
time, but that I wake the kids up and we have a time of scripture
reading and we open the scriptures and all of us sit on the couch every
morning during the week and we read a chapter a
day led by the Holy Spirit, Lord, what chapter? If we're going through, you know,
like the books at a time, but. But just, Lord, what do you want us
to read? And right now we're going through the letter of. The letters of Peter,

(22:10):
but that. And again with the little one who's playing at the
feet, you know, and the older one who was like, wait, what does this mean?
And what is. You know, and what is. And, you know, and asking the questions.
And so. And we go and we spend about an hour, an hour and a
half sometimes going through that before we do anything else.
And so that's been a great blessing. Again, that's been a stretch for me, because
having to really be committed to this is the most important thing. Not from a

(22:34):
place of ritual and not from a place of. I have checked off the
box, Right. But a real moment of like, who is
God? And let's talk about it, guys, you know, in our home. And how do
we really live it out? Yeah. How do we really understand it? Live
it, defend it eventually. Because if we don't, we can't defend if we don't live
it. That's right. We can't defend it if we don't embrace it

(22:56):
as true and then apply it and have that experience, you know? You know,
it's interesting. Can. Let me just jump into. To piggyback on something you just said.
We can't defend it if we don't live it. I. I think especially
when you look at first Peter, chapter three, verse 15. So that's like the apologetics
verse, right? Be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within you.
But it's so interesting to me that. But before you get to

(23:17):
this third chapter here, you've got chapters one and
two that are pointing to your call to live
differently in the world. Like, so you're supposed to be doing something that
is going to provoke the question. It almost gives you an opportunity to
explain why you are doing something differently. And
so then, you know, that's when the apologetics is supposed to walk

(23:39):
in. Well, I'm doing this because Jesus has said, saved me. I'm living this
way because God is real and this is what he requires of
those who call on his name. So I. Man, I agree with you 100. I
think if you're not living it, you're. You're not going to defend it, and you
won't have even an opportunity to defend it. I think part of the
defense comes in that somebody is pushing back

(24:01):
against you living differently. You are doing something that's like,
wait, why are you doing that? Why are you? And. And so then you've got
to give a reason, the hope that lies within you, because that hope, you would
presume that hope is fueling the difference. Now I'm going to interact with my
siblings differently. I'm going to take more time. You know, we recently had a
conversation in our home, and, you know, we've got, like, two

(24:23):
sets of kids, so we've got our teenagers, and then we've got our younger kids,
and our teenagers are having disputes that have moved on
from, he took my water gun to why are your clothes always
in the basket? Like, once you do your laundry, get your clothes out, you know?
And so we had this conversation where we're trying to work through that. And I
told them, I said, you know, there is a sense in which I could just

(24:44):
be like, stop arguing. Stop art. But what I really want to do is
I want to provide for them an opportunity to live for
God's glory, even when they have disputes, even when they have disagreements.
And it just never stops, you know, But I want to pick up kind of
like the flip side of that, because we talk about getting through our day, and,
you know, what is it that God has called us to do? And what does

(25:06):
it look like when we feel like, okay, yeah, I've. I've been faithful to that.
I'm. I'm doing that, or even having our own plan or desire
for how we want the day to look. So what does it look like when
you feel like, oh, I. I have. Many of those, you know,
and it's. The reality is that the walk of the
believer is not pristine. This is something,

(25:27):
man. I'm so grateful that we're actually walking with our son on now our oldest,
because, you know, when we know who God
is and we know his character, and we know that he is
a God that is just. And everything that comes from his mind
is true. Right? And he is. He
is right in all his thinking, and his wrath is

(25:49):
real. He expects the believer to live a certain
way. So because that's true and that is not to be abandoned,
we then put on ourselves this like, well, it must be perfect,
and it must be right. And then we start to allow our flesh to kind
of dictate what that should look like, especially in our days,
especially us moms that have, I would say, the flexibility to kind

(26:12):
of orchestrate our day, because that's. That's our part of our role, you know, how
is our. How is our day gonna go? And. And. And where are the children
going, and what is happening here? What's needs, what needs to happen in the home?
We have that. That control over our home, rightfully so. Right. We want
to govern it. And so then there are days where you have an
expectation of what it should look like, and it does not happen that way for
whatever reasons. And we have all the reasons. Right? Then you lay your head to

(26:35):
the pillow and you're like, lord, I failed miserably today was
not. But did we fail, or is it just that it didn't go the way
we wanted? Right. Because he's sovereign. And so again, it's
always falling on that rock, always saying, lord, but for your
glory, if all I got to do was, you know,
tell a child, hey, that's sin, please. Yeah, you know, and,

(26:56):
and correct. Are we satisfied with that? Here's. Here's. When I have bad
day, bad days, when I have harder days, it's when I don't see
fruit in my children. I feel like those times when I see the
opposite of it, and I feel like, how many times. It's kind of like when
Jesus was like, how long do I have to be with you? You know? And
so it's like, lord, help me to be patient. How long do I have to

(27:17):
tell you? Like, how long are you going to choose sin? And how
long are you going to choose your flesh over honoring
God? You know, and then I sit back and I'm like, how long has it
taken me? Right? Like, how. How long has God
been long suffering? And he's long suffering, like, he's not long suffering
toward us alone. He is long suffering, like, like he's

(27:39):
been around, you know, from forever, and he's seen humanities from the humanity,
humanity from the beginning. And, and he is been longsuffering with
mankind. I can be longsuffering my children. So, yeah, there are times when I,
When I get frustrated because I don't see the fruit I want. There are times
when I think my day should go a certain way, and it doesn't. And it's
not because of. I guess my frustration is not because, you know, I got a

(28:00):
flat tire or whatever, but. But things like, you
know, we didn't get the most of it done or, or we didn't. It
didn't, you know, it wasn't as fruitful as it should have been, as I wanted
it to be. And so those are the days that are difficult. But. But again,
you. You wake up the next morning and you say, lord, for your glory again
today, help me to be led by Your spirit. And then here's another thing. Being

(28:22):
led by his spirit is me not being led by ourselves. So, Lord, if
this is the way you orchestrated this day, and you in your for knowledge knew
that it was going to be this way and that it was going to feel
choppy and it was going to be uncomfortable, what are you showing me? Do I
need to stretch? Do I need to have more patience? Do I need to be
more flexible? Is there. Are there areas that you're trying to show me about me
that I'm trying to control? Too much? All those things, Lord, help me. So it's

(28:44):
analyzing it from. Okay, God, you are who you say that you are.
That never changes. Even if my day goes crazy, that never changes. You are
consistent. Show me what it is I need to do. Help me to have the
peace that surpasses understanding that I am not getting my peace from my perfect
day, but I'm getting my peace from. From you, from your spirit. And so
kind of analyzing it that way again, having the. The centrality of

(29:06):
who you are, his character, who he is, you know, when
we analyze it, does that. Is that something that helps you
maybe to guard against complaining? Because I know, you know, as a
homeschooling mom, I think there's such a great temptation for
us to always focus on what's on our plate. Because there's. There's often a lot
on our plate. Right? I mean, that's. That's reality. I don't think we should pretend

(29:28):
like it's not a lot, but the temptation could
be to complain. And it seems. Seems like if we
rightly position the Lord, maybe we kind of
mitigate that just a little bit, or our vision or our perspective is
a little bit better. So how do you guard against
that temptation to, like, lament the days when they are

(29:51):
not what you envisioned? Yeah, yeah, that's. That's it,
really. Just understanding that
God is worthy, like we. We are
called to be him, his ambassadors. And I know it sounds very
cliche, very churchy, because we're, you know, familiar with this terminology, but when we put
it in practice, like, I am assigned by God, the creator of

(30:13):
heaven and earth, to do what he's called
me to do, which is first to honor him in my heart. So
before I get to be His, My husband's wife and my children's mother and. And
whoever, whatever, I need to know that I'm his daughter and
that I am to glorify him in my heart, in my
thoughts. So when the. When my flesh starts creeping in and I have a thought

(30:36):
that's like, man, I don't want that or I want this and this
is the way I want it to be. And I want this now,
man. Lord, how does my, how do I compare
to you in my complaining right now? Like, what does this say about
how short I fall of your glory? And so then the
Lord corrects me very gently, you know, and I'm like, lord, you know

(30:58):
what? And then always refocusing on, lord, who are you and what have, what
have you done? And, and again, it sounds
biblical. Let me not. It sounds biblical because it is biblical, right? It is
biblical. I was like, I don't even need to defend that.
It is biblical to say that he has given us his greatest gift
up front. It is biblical to say that I already have salvation.

(31:20):
So why am I complaining about this first world problems I got
right? Let's keep it real. So let me not, Lord, help me to not complain
when I don't have this and this in order or this and this. And my
husband gets home and the kitchen is a hot mess because I didn't get to
it. Listen, it is what it is. Be patient, husband. And he is, Praise God.
And I get to it, you know, and so understanding that man, he

(31:41):
gave us his greatest gift already. So glory to God.
Glory to God that I'm gonna get to it. Glory to God that it's gonna
have to be tomorrow. Glory to God, you know, and so again, but it's, it's
a, it's a spirit moment. It's like, lord, I need your spirit to come and
take over. Because that's right. That's just not, you know, willing. That's right. Oh my
goodness. Okay, so we're gonna have to continue this in part two of our conversation

(32:02):
as we talk about that faithfulness. Because you kind of alluded to it just like
the inner workings of our homes and, and what the right expectations
are of our, of our husbands and then also like what we
should expect, right, of ourselves. So I want to talk about that. Maybe we do
that in our part two. Maria Hamilton, wife
of Abraham Hamilton III and mom of six kids

(32:24):
who they disciple and educate at home. And also
I would say child apologists like I, I, I really look to you and
the way that you are able to take these difficult concepts.
And kids have questions, we're going to talk about that too in our follow up
episode. But kids have questions and your ability to field those questions, to really
strike at the heart of what they're asking, I think is critical. And

(32:47):
it's such a value to the body of Christ. Thank you so much for joining
me. Thank you for having me.

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Teaching Apologetics: Raising Faith Defenders – Maria Hamilton, Part 1 (hosted by Meeke Addison)

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Teaching Apologetics: Raising Faith Defenders – Maria Hamilton, Part 1 (hosted by Meeke Addison)