What will my children’s future be like? It is a question that we all ponder as parents, sometimes with hope, sometimes with fear. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to explore some aspects of this topic such as “Will my child have a job?” “How can I help them succeed?” “What kind of world will they live in?” “How can I protect them?” “How can I help them be resilient?” and more.
What will my children’s future be like? There is so much that feels out of our control as parents. How often do we feel helpless? Rapid technological advances allow, among other things, digital communication that can pull our children in many directions, both damaging and scary. World events effect our lives and create a future for our children that might not be what we would hope for. Daily news brings new worries to the hearts of parents everywhere. What will my children’s future be like?
When we longed for a child to hold in our arms, we probably never imagined how overwhelming it would seem once they were there. We welcome this precious life into our family and then it hits us – we are responsible for this little one, we hold their life in our hands. We feel awe and we feel fear!
One of the best things we can do for our children is create a community around them that models the values, the morals and the beliefs that we want for our children. What do we want for our children: a community where respect or where competition comes first, a community where speaking one’s mind or where compassion comes first, a community where caring for people or where making profit comes first? These are choices we have as parents. We can surround our children with the type of community that shares what we hold dear in our lives.
I was chatting with the youth on Sunday morning. I asked them about what kind of situations they experienced at school. They quickly spoke of the bullying and meanness among the kids, they named their discomfort with the amount of swearing that goes on, and they expressed the exhaustion at push to succeed and to compete. I then asked them what they experienced when they came into our church community. They were just as quick to say that in the church they know they will be treated with kindness and respect, that people care about them and want to know what is going on for them, and that they can relax in this place. One said, “When I’m here, I don’t feel lonely.” Wow!
That is what I want for my children and for your children – a community where they feel loved, respected and cared for, without having to achieve anything or prove anything. I want them to know that whatever life brings, they are not alone. God is with them and this community is with them.
Hate speech is on the rise in our society, as is bullying and rudeness. It is so easy just to brush off hateful words and racist comments as part of every day life, but we must not!!! We can do better. We can have a better society. We can create a better future for our children by choosing the communities of people in which we will raise our children.
Children learn more from what is modelled around them than from being told, “No,” don’t do that, don’t say that! The church is a community of people who have chosen intentionally to follow the Way of Jesus. When we choose to follow the Way of Jesus, we commit to loving our neighbours as well as loving strangers and enemies, we commit to sharing generously what we have, we commit to speaking with love and gratitude and to seeing the image of God in each and every person. While we are not perfect, we are committed becoming better at living these commitments. As adults, we work together to create a loving, caring, compassionate, generous community. As adults, we model the Way of Jesus and inspire our children to do the same.
What will my children’s future be like? I know that there are things I can’t control as a parent, but when I give them a loving, caring, compassionate, generous community in which they can find courage in knowing that whatever life brings, they are not alone, then I can put many of my fears to rest.
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