Are Your Dreams for Your Children Getting in the Way of God’s Plan?

One thing that has always gotten me overbooked and overwhelmed was trying to create my children in “my own image.” No, I’m not talking about making mini-mes. I’m talking about the image in my mind. A mix of kid that looked like a Gap Kids model, played sports like baby Olympic athletes, and were as scholarly as miniature Albert Einsteins (without the frizzy hair).

Then God reminded me I didn’t need to envision who my kids should be. He’d already taken care of that. My kids weren’t empty vessels after all. God created him in unique ways.

Ephesians 2:10 talks about this, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (NIV).

Just as God created me to do good works (in my family, my home, my community, my world), He did the same for my kids. Boldness came when I studied my kids and figured out what made them tick.

While it wasn’t possible to look at my three-year-old son and know what he was going to be when he grew up, I discovered he liked listening to stories and building Lego creations. At age six I discovered t-ball was not his thing. In eight grade I discovered basketball was.

It was hard though, focusing on my child INSTEAD of focusing on the image in my head. From the first moment I saw Cory my mind was filled with big dreams for him. My Mommy sensibility involved laying aside my dreams and discovering God’s.

“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child,” says actress Sophia Loren. The cool thing was God thought of my kids first.

Instead of creating kids in my own image, I need to remember that God created them in His. He knows His plans for them.

Plans for a good future.

It’s my job as a mom to remember that, to seek God, and to appreciate my kids for who they are . . . without letting my idea of who they should be get in the way.

Steps You Can Take

1. Nix the idea of the “perfect” kid.
2. Appreciate who God made your child to be.
3. Ask God to show you how to help your child develop his talents.
4. Thank God for your child’s good future!

Tricia Goyer has written more than 35 books, including both novels that delight and entertain readers and nonfiction titles that offer encouragement and hope. She has also published more than 500 articles in national publications such as Guideposts, Thriving Family, Proverbs 31, and HomeLife Magazine.