Trivial Pursuit

It is a true statement that we are all pursuing something. As I write this it is Monday morning. Families all over America are frantically pursuing library books, backpacks and lunch money. Some are pursuing peace and quiet after a crazy weekend, while others are back in the workplace pursuing financial security and career advancement. Some are seeking approval, validation, love and commitment. Regardless of who you are, where you live, or where you come from, you are seeking to fulfill some need, or perceived need.

Perhaps your days may seem routine and mundane, and you don’t feel you are “in pursuit” of anything, but just trying to keep your head above water and put one foot in front of the other. If you really want to know what you are pursuing…  ask your kids. They have a way of breaking things down to the simplest form and cutting to the heart of the matter. As they watch how you spend your time and money and hear the words you frequently say, what do you think is their impression of what you are after in life?

Here are a few questions to consider that may indicate what you are inadvertently teaching your kids about what you value enough to pursue...

Do you find yourself rushing around and feeling frantic and panicked? Or do you have time every day to relax and just listen, laugh and live?

Are you spending more time at home looking at a screen or looking into the eyes of your child?

Is it more normal to miss worship than to miss practice?

Is the focus of bedtime pleading, or praying?

Does your menu indicate that your focus is building healthy bodies or just filling bellies?

Do you pay more attention to a clean room or a pure heart?

Does your calendar indicate that athletics trumps altruism, self-sacrifice and goodness?

Is home a haven where order is king or is ruled by haphazard chaos?

Is your primary "go to" scripture or Google?

Are you concerned more with grades or learning?

Are you more likely to surrender to avoid the conflict or do you teach the way out of the crisis?

Is there more consideration about what people think or what God thinks about your choices?

Are you living with too little margin in the budget or the calendar to reach out and help someone in need regularly?

We all want greatness for our kids. We want them to make the team, choose the right friends, learn from the best teachers, get good grades, make National Honor Society, win the game, use their talents, develop great skills, make wise choices. We want them to succeed. We want them to be noticed and awarded for their success. When the mother of two of Jesus’ disciples, seeking the best for her sons, asked Jesus to place them at his side as He rose to what she thought would be a mighty kingdom, he had a very interesting response that we can learn from today. 

Jesus pretty much tells this mother to be careful what she wishes for because being at His side was going to mean letting go of all that success and all those dreams and learning to live or die serving others. Wow! How many parents do you know that spend their parenting years teaching their children service over success? If it is important enough that Jesus told a mother of two very important men in his life, then perhaps it should be more important to us.

Finding balance and wisdom in raising children is not an easy task. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we fail. The important thing is to know what is important to God and make sure that you don’t lean so far into what has no eternal significance that you end up supporting what has no value to the One who created them for His divine purpose... which is in some way wrapped around loving and serving Him and those in need around us.