It Is Not All On Your Shoulders
The Amazon Christmas Wish book came last week and of course it has sent the kids in to Christmas wish list mode.
Sidetrack for minute, I was feeling nostalgic for the Sears Christmas wish book as they flipped through the Amazon book AND Christmas wish list writing counts as language arts for the day just so you know.
Anywho, the kids have literally circled everything in the book and have each provided me with presentations on why they want what they want.
As I started to become overwhelmed by their asking and almost started to respond to their requests with statements I have used in the past that diminish their desires like, “don’t ask for too much, their are kids in the world who won’t get any presents for Christmas” the Holy Spirit stopped me.
“For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.”
Psalms 50:10-12 NLT
My children are Gods children first and it’s not fully on my shoulders to provide for their needs and desires. We can turn to our Heavenly Father and ask Him for whatever we want or need. Asking is not wrong, wanting is not wrong and I don’t want to limit their desires and dreams by the limits of what I can see in front of me. Do we always get what we want or ask for? No! But even that is a good lesson to learn and so the asking part is not wrong.
I have learned, my kids LOVE to talk about their desires, even if I can’t give them everything they are asking for, I can still listen to their desires and stay curious about why they want what they want.
The world crushed my ability to dream, ask and desire and eventually I stopped asking for more for fear that I simply wouldn’t get it. I don’t want to do that to my kids. And I praise the Lord for Him restoring my ability to dream, acknowledge my desires and speak them out.
God also doesn’t have a pie for handing out blessings, someone being visibly super blessed, doesn’t mean there is less for their brother. When my kids ask for a lot of toys, they are not taking toys from anyone else. Also, why do they want it? Probably to play with, that’s innocent or to open a lot of presents, I mean who doesn’t like opening a gift!
My daughter always talks about wanting a really big house when she is older (my mind always thinks, girl you should be grateful for the house you have) and finally one day I asked her “why do you want a really big house?” Her response was so AMAZING “because I want big long hallways so I can run in the house” This was such a lightbulb moment for me, their hearts and minds are so pure. Now when she talks about her desire for a big house, I help her plan for how she is going to make that happen because her desires and goals are good!
I want to fan the flame of my children’s desires and point them to the one who provides everything we need. If the Christmas wish lists start to overwhelm you, just remember, you don’t need to provide it all on your own but you do have the blessing of holding a safe space to listen to your children’s dreams and what a gift that is as their earthly parent.
