Our Ultimate Goal

Hi Busy Girl,
I was thinking this morning about the parenting series we just started watching in our class at church. Last week in our discussion time, we were talking about how parents today seem to want to make their child "experience rich" and end up making them "relationally poor." That we hustle them around to a million activities, but they don't spend time with friends and family and they don't learn how to really relate to others.

It is easy for me to point a finger at other parents because you are only 6 months old, and the only place you go is to Mrs. Cara's! But I think I appreciate now the things that I did get to do as a child a bit more now. Just like now, my house as a child was about 20 miles away from town. Going to eat a nice dinner or going to dance class or gymnastics meant that my mom had to give up both the gas and time. And we will be the same way with you. We simply won't be able to shuttle you back and forth every night of the week for some activity.

But a person in my group mentioned a thought that struck me. We were talking about how some parents seem to be building their kids a resume already. That if they don't excel in certain things like sports or gymnastics or music by the time they are 10, then they assume that they won't make it to the "big leagues" of college or professional whatever. So they push and push from the very beginning. They have already made up their mind that the ultimate goal is their child being "successful" by following their plan.

And I will admit that I was taken back because I realized that I already had a plan in mind for you... I assume that you will just follow in my footsteps and do the same thing I did. Do well in school, go to college (I mean, we have already started saving, so you HAVE to go, right?) and then get married and have a family.

But this other mom said that the ultimate goal for our children should be to see them in heaven. That what they do here on earth, unless it is a sin or against God's plan for them, doesn't really make a huge difference. Could you not be just as happy being a stay-at-home Mom as you might be if you were a neurosurgeon? Does a social worker matter less in God's eyes than a Supreme Court Judge? Not one bit! So today I am going to focus on the ultimate goal - to show you the love of Jesus and hope that all my efforts are not to steer you onto my path, but to allow you to find the one already made perfect for you by your Heavenly Father.

But I am pretty sure that God and I both agree on the college thing, just so you know.