As graduation season approaches, many of us will spend time celebrating or possibly grieving, fretting, and worrying over the transitions of life that are happening. I know in my home, we have one child leaving middle school for high school, and I honestly do not know how that is even possible when I graduated just five years ago myself! Haha, more like twenty-five years ago! But in all seriousness, time does slip by so quickly. The old saying, “The days are long, but the years are short,” has never been truer for me.
I will just go ahead and tell you that I do not have data to back what I am about to tell you, but in my experience alone, teens who are able to talk to me during their medical visit and tell me some direction or occupation that interests them after high school are more likely to find success and avoid trouble down the road than the child who never makes eye contact, lets someone else talk for them, and mumbles “I don’t know” when asked about their future plans. It isn’t that the child with some expressed interest or goal always achieves the thing stated in my office, but I believe it is having a direction of some sort that keeps them focused.
So, this leads me to ask, are we being intentional about our lives? Or are we just letting time slip past without really considering the future? Are we having conversations with our families and children about things that matter, like our faith and our values? Or are we just focused on fun, popularity, and what everyone else seems to be doing? Living without intention often brings results we never wanted. It’s like going on vacation without packing a bag–it makes life harder than it has to be.
To be totally transparent, I feel like I have spent too much of my life in the future and not enough in the moment, but I am working on that. As my children grow into the young adults God designed them to be, I want to know that I was a good steward of my time as their mother, especially of their time at home. I want to help them see their gifts and talents and to explore ways to use those gifts in their lives long term. I want them to build their lives on a strong foundation that will not fail them when life’s storms come crashing down, and those storms WILL come. We aren’t promised tomorrow, so if I am not here to help, will they know where to turn? Will they know what they want from life and their divine purpose?
My challenge to you all is to consider this: what do you want? What are you willing to do or sacrifice to get it? What is one thing you can do today to move you toward it? What is one thing you can eliminate that is standing in your way? The answers to some of these questions might be tough or unpopular. That’s ok. The best things in life don’t come easy! The answers to some of these questions are probably worth discussing as a family, and definitely with your spouse or partner. Because a shared vision more than doubles the possibility of achievement! When all the tires spin in the same direction, you can get somewhere!
Don’t let the future scare you. Whether you are the one graduating or transitioning from life stage to another, or if you are the one letting go of the once tiny baby that is suddenly a grown man or woman, God has created each of us with a plan and purpose that is truly good, life-giving, and fulfilling. Don’t ignore the small voice inside that speaks of dreams so big you just want to cover your ears and run away–be intentional. Know thyself. Believe in something bigger than yourself. Trust your Creator, who didn’t make a mistake when He planted that dream there. And take one small step at a time towards that dream. If you keep taking those one small steps, you won’t arrive at the end of life with regrets or shoulda-woulda-coulda’s. You’ll arrive at your finish line with a big smile, a full heart, and a life bigger than you can even imagine right now. But it all starts with one small question: what do you want?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3: 5-6
Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I!
Dr. Allison Key