The Pressure to Know What You Want

I was just reading one of my favorite blogs, Stuff Christians Like, when I realized I needed to get something written. The blog was about "I am _______, but_________." Meaning I am doing something with my life now, but it isn't what I really want to be doing. It is not my intention to go into what that means for me. My thoughts actually turned to my son.

My son just started 10th grade about a month ago. He is taking a couple of classes at the high school in the morning and then going to a career center in the afternoons to eventually learn a trade. It had not been our intention prior to this Spring for him to attend the career center, but he was allowed to apply and was accepted. Our intent has been that he will attend college. It still is our intent, but we feel that it can only help him to learn a trade also.

I am learning as the days go by that high school is a high-pressure environment. Get ready to take the ACT. Decide now what course of study you want to pursue and what field you want to work in.

I am feeling stressed.

Years ago my son asked me what he should be when he gets older, and I responded that I wanted him to be whatever God wanted him to be. His response to that was "You want me to be a pastor?!" I laughed then and I still think it is humorous.

The thing is that I found my thinking on that starting to change. I began thinking that we need to really knuckle down and get all those classes in to make him a sterling college candidate. We only have three years to get him ready for life.

Yes, we do need to get him ready for life. But his life is ultimately in the hands of a gracious and loving God. We need to seek His wisdom on how to proceed and help our son develop into the man God wants him to be, not what we want him to be.

It is so easy to get caught up in keeping up with society. Having the wonderful degree, owning the right accessories (iPod, cell phone, big screen TV), going on the foreign vacations, living in the nice houses, etc. That is not what my focus should be, though.

I want to help my son discover who God created him to be. What are his gifts, what is his passion, what energizes him? If he is involved in something that involves those things, he will be on the right path.