Honoring the Childhood Journey

Awesome adults. That’s the goal of raising kids right? Not just to teach them. Not just to make them eat their veggies. But to grow up loving their lives, serving others, making the world a better place, and showing Jesus to others... Right? . . I don’t care how fast they are at their math facts or how old they were when they learned to read... No matter what or how you school, there will be education gaps. An awesome adult never stops learning about their world and fills in those gaps. . . I’m trying to change my own definition of success away from the worldly goals and school-driven mentality of “smart” and the priorities of “being busy” etc and to pass that on to the kids! If they have fancy degrees and money but are miserable and don’t love their lives... Not worth it. . . Yesterday on our trips, we interacted with some of these people. They didn’t brush off the kids and their persistent questions. They honored them and their curious minds to help in their journey. Looked them in the eye. Said, “That’s a great question.” Appreciated their attention and who they were at that moment. Not just as adult tag-alongs. A child is born a person. . . If you have kids in your lives, be an awesome adult for them and take them on the ride with you. Share your passions and hobbies and join along in theirs. Take their little question and follow it with another and be patient. Treat them as fully formed minds, challenge them at levels higher than you normally would, and embrace their journey. Teach them and learn from them. . . Not the next kid’s journey. Or the ones you had. Or the journey level someone in a land far, far away determined what and when their journey should be. See them. Honor them. Be what they want to be when they make adult decisions. . . And to you awesome adults out there who are rockin’ it. I thank you. And my kids will one day thank you as they look back on who and what influenced them as they are naturalists or geologists or professional writers NPS Rangers or engineers or or or... Here’s to honoring the journey.