The Gift We'll Give Our Children

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My wife and I plan to give our children a great gift, and one that we will continually give from their very first day on this planet. (No, to all who are hoping, Shaunna is not pregnant, lol.) This gift will be one that empowers them to have, do, and imagine whatever they want, with no limitations. It will be a gift that most of us in the western world have not been given, not because of our parents, but because of our culture.

Our culture and society teaches us, contrary to our beliefs as children, that we CANNOT do, be, think, or have anything we want. I mean seriously, think about it, what did you want to be as a child? Did you live up to that dream? If not, why? Because our world says, "Oh that's silly, you can't do that." Can't, can't, can't, the most destructive word in our English vocabulary.

Somewhere early in our lives, most of us began believing, albeit subconsciously, the "can't" statements we heard all around us. Can you imagine what would have happened if we had of all heard "can" statements instead? I look forward to learning from my children as they, one day, grown in life being told that they can do, be, have, think, and imagine anything they want to. I can scarcely imagine what their lives will look like, void of the baggage that "can't" brings.

No, I'm obviously not talking about anarchy. I'm not talking about telling them they can run around sticking forks in outlets just because the want to. I'm referring to their paradigm and fundamental thought process. Whether it be something temporal, contained to this world, or something in their spirit, that is eternal, they will know that they CAN achieve it.

I say, "I sure wish I could live my entire life through the love of Christ in me", and my human-ness immediately counters with, "yeah, but you can't." What an incredible life it will be for our children to know that they can.