Uniqueness

I was reading a book to my two year old class this week about a rooster who wanted to see the world, so he set out one morning on his adventure.  As he went along, he met other animals and invited them to join him.  When the sun went down they got hungry, cold,  and sleepy.   Then they all began to, one by one,  go back home.

Having just said goodbye to my son who left for his adventure, I liked the fact that they all decided to go back home . . . that sounded good to me.  But at the end of the story, all the rooster did when he got home was eat a good meal of grain and go to sleep and only dream about a trip around the world.

God has a “dream” for each of us – “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  (Jeremiah 29:11) We need to encourage our children that even though they might get hungry, cold, sleepy, or whatever, they should still follow the dream God has for them.  This might not be pleasant for us as parents.  But as my brother-in-law once said as his daughter was moving to another country to work with a missionary, “I would rather have her in the center of God’s will in a foreign country than here at home out of God’s will.”

I have decided I don’t want my children just dreaming about their adventure in life like the rooster in the story.  I want them living it to the fullest even if that means they are not at home.  I want them following the passions that God has uniquely placed within each of them, even if it is sometimes difficult for them . . . and for me. (Someone may need to remind me I said this in the days ahead!)