A life in progress...

Wow! So, I am in progress. Not a startling revelation to most of you. I wanted to share with you the parenting insights I have received and then in another blog I will give you an update on the "me" stuff...

Since we are each "a life in progress" and we are old enough to read and Lord willing, learn, then we easily assume that things may be hard but we can handle them. The things we think we can't handle we either ignore or try to figure out some new ingenious plan to fix it. As if there ever was a "new" plan!!

I have forgotten that my boys are also "lives in progress". Each day I spend with them, engaging with them, enjoying them and teaching them to become the godly men they are destined to be is going to be fruitful. The days I refuse to connect with them, focus on my friends (where the emotional payoff seems bigger and is certainly faster), and attend to the busy work of my life is going to be only marginally fruitful. I know that the people in my life are put there by God for His glory and the blessing of friendship and encouragement. The busy work must be done. BUT, is it really all it is supposed to be if I am ignoring or at least disconnected from the most important calling I have ever had? NOPE!

My little "lives in progress" need more than half of me. They need all of me. Yours need all of you. Look them in the eyes (you know the one's you couldn't wait to see when they were kicking around in your belly) and SEE beyond the right now to their destiny. Call it out. Declare it in their presence. If you don't know exactly what it is - ask God to give you His vision for your child. Each one is going to be different - as different as they are. See beyond the naughty attitude and behavior and declare the truth of Christ over them - OUT LOUD. Speak the Word over them and call forth the destiny God has designed them for. Take a step back from the day -to -day and focus on the big picture of who God is building in your family - Under your very roof!!

We bought a sweatshirt one year for James when we were in DC. It said "Future President of the United States". I have had different responses from different parents concerning that title. "I would never wish that on my child" and "good for you little guy". I bought it with the intention of blessing my son. Who knows what he will become? God does. The tighter I stay to the Living, Loving, Life giving, Destiny creating, Designer of Life itself, God, the more likely I am to lead my child into his destiny. If I get tunnel vision in the midst of the day and fixate on the "leadership skills" gone awry then we will never really get there.

So, my input is this: You have been given "talents" like the Master gave his servants before his journey. You are responsible for the investment your Master gave you. Will you just "get through it" or will you invest all you have and see the multiplication of your investment in the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your child and in yourself? That question is just as much for me as it is for you. Trust me. I am a life in progress... just like my kids, just like you.