I still remember the first time I drove our first new born home from the hospital. The journey was slow, careful and deliberate. Since then, a lot has changed, not only in the way I drive, but also in the way I parent…
If parenting can be described as a journey, I am not sure it has always been slow, careful, and deliberate. So often I have found myself running at a fast pace as I keep up with the urgent needs that each day brings, while trying to keep up with the pressure to be that perfect parent. Know the feeling? And, if we are not careful, it’s easy for us to miss out on what matters most for our kids…
- Who am I raising my child to become?
- What steps can I take today to help my child take steps in their own faith journey?
- When God takes me home to Heaven, what legacy of faith am I leaving my children?
- What am I doing intentionally today that will impact my child for all eternity?
While these questions are important, if you are like me, questions like these can be overwhelming and daunting.
In the book, Pass It On: Building a Legacy of Faith for Your Children through Practical and Memorable Experiences, Jim Burns captures what many of us feel like:
“Most parents, including us, feel at times that the process of leaving a healthy, vibrant, life-transforming spiritual legacy is daunting…”
But here’s the good news:
“It’s an awesome task, yet when broken down to its basic foundation, although challenging, it’s actually fairly simple.”
As parents, it’s essential that we start this process by considering the ‘destination’ in mind with our children. In other words, when our children become adults and leave the house, what kind of people would we hope them to be? What character traits would they display? What would their faith look like? How would their faith impact their decisions and their direction in life?
The Bottom Line: Beginning with the destination in mind will determine the decisions we make for children today. It will help drive what we do for our kids today and what we allow in our family schedule in our busy lives. We can either go along with a journey that is dictated by our culture, or we can calve out the journey as we keep focused on the destination God has for our kids.
Fast forward ten to twenty years from now. Who will your child be? What is the destination you have in mind for them? How does your schedule and priorities reflect the destination you are heading for?
