A Parent’s Gift

I was driving down the road with a twenty-year-old girl in the car a while back. Oh, nothing to worry about it was all an elaborate scheme to surprise my daughter. On the way to our home, we chit-chatted, caught up, and talked.

At one point I asked, “Now you’re taking some classes aren’t’ you?” Thinking I had heard sometime somewhere that she was taking some post-high school, college classes.“No,” I’m done she said. “I’ve already got my associate’s degree and just decided a few weeks ago that I was done taking classes.”

I was a little surprised knowing that a college degree was important to her parents. Before I could ask any questions she continued her story. “For the last couple of weeks, I was praying and trying to figure out what God wanted me to do about the classes. Always in the past, I felt good about taking classes…but now I didn’t feel the same. So the day the classes had to be finalized I called my mom and said, “I just feel like I want to take any more classes. All I want to be is a wife and mom…and I don’t see how these classes contribute to my overall plan.””

As I listened I knew this was a big deal for her and her parents. But her parents were so wise and wanting God’s best for her and gave her ‘permission’ to stop taking classes.

Now I don’t know how they came to the point where they were OK with all that…but the important thing was that they came to that point. Some parents never do. They force their kids to continue the classes, pursue a degree and show their disappointment if they don’t.

They may not have realized it but my friends gave their daughter an amazing gift. The gift of their approval and acceptance which is maybe one of the greatest gifts a parent can give their children. Sadly some children NEVER receive that gift…no matter what degree they get, the career they choose, or the success they achieve.

Actually, I heard a comedian on the radio the other day who said, “Growing up in the culture I grew up we had only four options after high school, “To be a  lawyer, to be a doctor, to be an engineer, or to be a disgrace to the family.”

She laughed, but I thought it was sad. No child should have to feel that pressure and yet, so many children DO feel that pressure.

So here’s the deal Mom and Dad…I don’t care what you feel, the pressure others put on you, or what you’ve been taught about success…I’m asking you to be like the parent of the girl I talked to in the car and allow God to take them down any path He might have for them. And then to smile, cheer, and clap as they travel that path. That is a gift…and one each of your children needs from you.

Smile when you cheer!