
Photo: Prince Caspian movie
How Do You Inspire Children To Reach For More?
I sat on my son’s bed, dismayed once more with the piles of laundry “put away” by stuffing into the closet, in one huge pile. I felt like a failure, looking at cluttered toys, hardly ever used. How did we get this way? We used to have nothing. Literally, nothing, after the wildfires years ago. Yet here we are once more, with such abundance.
How can I help my son become the young man he was created to be if “stuff” stands in the way?
I uttered a prayer, “Please, Lord, help me to see your vision for this room. Show me how to pray for him.” And not be anxious.
I went downstairs, still praying, deciding we’d organize it in stages. But I didn’t just want it clean. I wanted him to see his room as home base for his growing up years. As the launchpad for something wonderful.
So the question kept rooting around: What could reach inside him and help him to see more breadth and openness to opportunities? More play dates and fun times, as well as dreams for the future? I was tempted to just donate everything he’d outgrown while he was at school, but what would that teach him?
Why can’t my son’s room be more like a portal to Narnia, rather than a messy pit?
But.
Maybe it could.
Hmmmm……
Suddenly the bigger question of how to encourage my sons to be their best and brightest intermixed with the idea of actually redoing their rooms to be more like Narnia.
If I want them to act like responsible, brave young knights, bringing them into the vision might provide the answer. Maybe creating a word-picture out of their rooms is an opportunity, not just a project. Perhaps we could bring to life our own corner of Narnia right here. What a fun project it would be to build our favorite scenes together. We could paint the walls, bringing out favorite toys and combining it with their current interests in fencing and more grown-up themes of chivalry, integrity, and reaching for the stars. The idea of casting the vision came to life, much larger than I could have dreamed, looking at a pile of unused toys.
Rather than solving one level of a problem, the Lord looks at the core for a bigger opportunity to breathe new focus into our relationship and the children’s futures.
How do you help cast the vision for loved ones in your life? How do you help your kids dream of the potential for their future? I’d love to hear from you.

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