“How did you salt someone’s oats today?”

Yeah, strange quote, huh? So this is how it came about, then we can discuss the deeper meaning. as well. I was enjoying the beautiful sun recently at one of the schools that I visit for my job as a behaviorist and I met an amazing lady named April Dunnehoo who works in Early Literacy with the HeadStart-Kindergarten students and teachers within the same parish. As we talked, we found a lot of commonality even though we work in two different areas of education, but found that some of the problems that she sees with these young students tend to become bigger problems as the students age due to the lack of skills that may not have been able to have had addressed when they are or were younger.

Anyway…we began to discuss how we need to find the fun in education in order to encourage our students to WANT to learn not just for the sake of learning. So, here’s where that above quote comes in. April stated that her dad had had an uncle who was wise, not so much in learning but in other, more worldly ways. It goes something like this, “You know that you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. You have to salt their oats so they get thirsty enough to drink.”

What struck April and I both was that “salting someone’s oats” can ALSO be about finding ways to draw others in to something so that they want to learn more. This isn’t all about education either. This can apply to everyday moments, God moments, historical moments… whatever catches your attention and makes you say, “Hmmm… that’s really interesting. I need to learn some more about that!” The main point is that you never stop learning.

Why is that important?

When you are learning, you’re growing. You can become more knowledgeable on any given subject, just because you read up on it or studied it or talked and listened to someone who knew more. You can then help pass that knowledge on to others so that they in turn can pass it on down the line. You may never know the full impact that you had because you helped “salt someone’s oats” and opened a door that they didn’t know existed.

What did I learn from this? That, I think, is why I do this blog. It’s not for my glory… it’s for God’s glory. If I can help make someone say, “Hmmm…I want to know more!”, I have then salted someone else’s oats and made them thirsty to want to know more. Now how much fun is that!?!

So, what can you gain from this? Have you ever passed on a little nugget of information or knowledge that made someone start to stop and think? It sure is a beautiful feeling of knowing that maybe, just maybe, you helped someone. in some way! We don’t know the impact that we may have to help someone. Perhaps you helped them to turn a corner that they didn’t know they needed. So, again, think very carefully on, “How did you salt someone’s oats today?” or can it be also, “How can I salt someone’s oats today?” Sure is something to think on, huh?