The Future

This picture makes me marvel that these three beautiful creations will ever be adults with families of their own. And at the same time, I see that they're growing up right before my eyes, a magical transformation that marches ever forward towards adulthood.

Last night as we all sat around the table enjoying party snacks we talked about what 2012 will bring. Archer will become a third grader, Shelly a kindergardener, and E... well he'll become a two year old, eventually. We talked about our plans, the kids mentioned "a LOT of swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's." One of my plans is to read through the entire bible in 2012, I pray the Lord helps me succeed in this venture. We talked about how we can make plans but ultimately its up to the Lord, we follow where he leads. Of course, the kids are still pretty sure we'll do a lot of swimming when summer comes in 2012.

When I was spending some time with Shelly in the kitchen, I thanked her profusely for being such a good helper. And we started talking about the original helper, Eve. God created Adam, but God saw that Adam was alone and it was not good. (Genesis 2:18) And so he created a helper, and Adam named her Eve, his new wife. We talked about the roles of husbands and wives, how wives are to be their husbands' helpers. And in this conversation I didn't just say, "wives should," or "God wants us to..." I told her, "Shelly, when you get married some day, you will be your husband's helper." I wonder what others might think, that I say these things as fact, I tell my children, "Archer, when you're a man and you have children of your own," or "Shelly, when you're married you'll need to know how to..." I also tell them they can have whatever jobs they want, I'm not trying to completely limit their options. But I'm conscious of the seeds I'm planting, the map I'm drawing, and I have an idea of where I'd like it to lead them. The world is a wide open place with many choices, do I really have to leave the door open to EVERY choice that's out there? No, certainly not. My own parents spent time planting the seeds that they thought would bear good fruit. And now I'm doing this same thing, with predictions that I speak as if they're already fact, with statements of what they'll want or need as they grow up.

In my planning for the upcoming year, I find myself caught up in the details, but also considering the result, many years from now, of the conversations I have with my children on a daily basis. I guess those conversations aren't so much about planning as preparing them for life after Mom and Dad's house, preparing their hearts to make choices down the road. One conversation at a time, and a million words later, I pray that they can easily say, "If the Lord wills," and not, "I will go my own way."

"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

~ James 4:13-15