I sometimes find it hard to swallow the pill of what society says my child's SUCCESS should look like; ***star athlete,*** honor student,*** certificate earner,*** award winner,*** class president,*** teacher's pet...*** The danger in swallowing this pill is that it will most likely cause me to miss out on the continual progress that my child is making.
Walking through my son's school during an Open House earlier this month, my eyes were drawn to magnificent projects with incredible detail, shiny trophies, posted awards and even a video of a student named "classroom hero." I looked over at my son's Social studies project with crooked index cards and messy writing.....I was immediately filled with tears of pride. If I had spent my time looking at all of the things that I wish had my son's name on it, I would have missed a real opportunity to celebrate with him. I would have missed out on celebrating that he actually COMPLETED 20 note cards for his social studies timeline and had them all in the correct order...I would have missed out on the joy of having him drag me to the music room to play a new song he learned on the dulcimer.... I would have missed out on hearing all that he has learned about the original 13 colonies as he proudly flipped through his project folder. I would have missed seeing him in a class video laughing, dancing and actually participating.
The thing about progress and growth is that we need to be careful to what we are measuring it against... Doctors don't measure growth based on the records of the previous patient. Doctors measure growth based on where you were before compared to where you are now. Progress is moving forward from where you used to be to where you are now.
Celebrate your child's milestones WHATEVER THEY MAY BE.... they are markers of God's faithfulness and hand on their lives. They are symbols of His grace and an unfolding and unveiling of a destiny far greater than one we can imagine.
