These phrases sound like they came straight out of a 90's episode of Full House or Family Matters, but the truth is that the reality behind them should ring loud in our homes every day! Because of the unique situation we're placed in, Steve and I are blessed to serve with Students week after week. It's not uncommon for us to hear from students who feel as though they are unworthy to do great things, or incapable of accomplishing much. It's unfortunate, because just 20 years ago, our culture was driven through media and otherwise that you could do anything you put your mind to. Kids were challenged to be the best, to never give up, and mainly to dream big.
In the home I grew up in, it was not unusual for our dinner conversations, or evening discussions to include plans for the future, and hopes of what could be. My parents challenged me to dream big about all of the great things that God wanted me to be. They constantly reminded me that I was designed, on purpose, to be great, and because of that it was my responsibility to live out that calling. It breaks my heart when I talk with students today who tell me that they want to settle for mediocrity at best. They don't desire to live a life bigger than themselves, and they are convinced that they couldn't do much even if they wanted to. I talked with a school teacher, a few months back, from another city who told me that the majority of her graduating students would not head off to college, or even leave the town they grew up in. They would work to make ends meet for the rest of their life, and be discouraged by what they "could have been" but never accomplished.
Please don't hear me say that I think that those that don't go to college are throwing away their life. Far from it! A friend of mine has started his own non-profit organization in which he has set up numerous clinics for aids patients in Africa -- and he did all of that without ever having a college degree. My point is that the students of today are our future. The children of today will soon lead our nation, and unless we are committing our own time, energy and effort to instill in them a desire to do great things, and to accomplish their dreams, we're failing to equip them to lead our world after us. Great things are just waiting to happen and they have all of the traits necessary to accomplish those great things....but they need us to encourage and challenge them to never give up in chasing after their dreams.
Here are a few things that you can do, this week, to help encourage the students and children around you:
1. Write a note telling them what you see in them! Let them know the qualities that you recognize that set them apart from the pack, and challenge them to be great. Encourage them to chase after their dreams, and explain to them why you know they can accomplish them!
2. Dream with them! When was the last time you sat down with your kids and helped them develop their own mission statement? When, for that matter, was the last time that you sat down and wrote out your own life mission statement? Perhaps this week would be a good time to sit down, as a family and flesh out ambitions, goals, and aspirations.
3. Encourage them when they stumble! Bumps along the road will come, and the best thing that you can do is commit your time to your kids (or students in your life), encouraging them to pick right back up where they left off and press on! The truth is that adversity will come and attack them -- so be there as their cheerleader reminding them why they chose their dreams in the first place. Remind them of the end goal they stated originally.
When kids come into our lives we often have our own big dreams for them. As they transition towards adulthood it's time for us to help them dream big dreams for themselves!
Right on! And that's from the view of someone else who was at the table. :)
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