Focus.

The theme of my Parenting by Design devotion for today was to keep our focus on Jesus and His truths, in spite of the pressures of today's culture.This struck a chord with me because I'm typically conscious of other people's parenting styles and I often compare myself with other parents. One thing that usually comes up as I meet other parents is the amount of enrichment activities, or lack thereof, that parents provide or create for their children. And what I often find with other parents (which sometimes makes me feel guilty and/or inadequate as a parent) is their priority on and ability to integrate into their schedule multiple extracurricular activities and other outside the home enrichment activities (library trips, park visits, museum excursions, etc.). It's kind of amazing to me because I feel as though I don't have time to do everything I need to do at home and be able to spend hours out of my day outside the home helping my kids to be more well-rounded and cultured. Granted, I hardly know these type of parents personally... I've never seen the inside of their houses, I've never looked at their day planners, I don't know their household income... I just don't know.

So, maybe they have maids that do most of their cleaning and cooking. Maybe they are pretty well-off and can afford to put their kids in a sports program every season and pay for music lessons and art classes. Maybe they have a regular nanny or live-in grandparent that helps watch the kids while they do the housekeeping or take time away from the home to relieve the stresses that brings. Or maybe... these are just my own pitiful rationalizations for why I don't do those things for my kids.

But I feel that today, the Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart, my Mommy heart, and reminding me that today's culture puts such significance on molding our kids into people who will be "successful" in the world's eyes. But that's not what God has called us to do as parents. At the end of the day, at the end of this age... our kids will stand before the presence of a holy God. But He will not ask how many sports they played. He will not ask to see their transcripts. He will not ask what instruments they played, how many countries they visited or how greatly they were admired by their peers. 

Instead, He will remember their depth of faithfulness to His kingdom.
He will recall how much they trusted in Jesus.
He will recount the extent to which the Holy Spirit was able to release new life in them because of their willingness to choose Christ over the flesh.


This is what the Lord reminded me of today. And it's a reminder this overachiever truly needed. My kids may not always be the best at everything. I may not always be capable of providing for them the experiences I think they should have. We may not always be able to have the material things that this culture asserts as signs of success. But we have a richness in the Lord that we can always count on. We can be enriched by the Holy Spirit working in our lives and in our home. Our earthly lives may not be picture perfect; but living faithfully for the Lord will bring us fulfillment beyond our imagination... a fulfillment that only a life lived for the Lord can truly bring.