What do you want to be?

"What do you want be when you grow up, Sweets?"
"I no know, maybe just have gum?"
"You just want to be able to chew gum?"
"Yeah I think so. That would be awesome."

I remember growing up and thinking that if I HAD to pick something to be when I grew up that I guess I would be a teacher because I love kids. I never had a clear goal of wanting to be a doctor or businesswoman. I just wanted to be a mom. So when I was asked, saying 'teacher' seemed like the correct response because at least I would be working with kids.

So it was no shock for me to hear the simple response from my Sweetness. She just wants to do the next thing. I wish I thought more like that. I wish that I slowed down sometimes to just be and hear and do the thing right in front of me. Usually, I like to know what's ahead so I can plan accordingly. Plan for road blacks, delays, or to try to get the best angle on a situation. Why not be prepared, right?

My brain spins and spins constantly of how I can accomplish the most of my list in the least amount of time with the sharpest accuracy.

I think there is a treasure to being prepared sometimes. But I also think that it can get in the way of the now, the being, the existing, the tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.

I want Sweetness to be. I want her to just be present. To take in life, to love people well. I don't want her to narrow down to only one occupation. I don't want her to focus solely on becoming one thing. I want her to believe she can do anything. And I think it starts by changing the questions I ask her. To do that I need to change the way I think so that I can begin to ask different questions.

Not, what do you want to be when you grow up, but what do you want to be, right now? What do you want to be known and remembered for? What legacy and memory are you leaving behind with each interaction you have?

How do we, practically, breed contentment and thankfulness in our kids while still fanning the flame of hope and and a passion to accomplish great things?

The only answer I have, the one that I lean and meditate on, the answer that provides peace in a grief-stricken, violent, selfish world is John 15:4.

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

It's backwards from an achievement-motivated world.
To grow you have to remain.
Stay, meditate, listen, love, remain.