The Power of A Life Well-Lived

As a parent, I find myself occasionally wondering about the difference my life has made (& is making) in the lives of my sons. Have I said the right things? How has my character been revealed in my behavior? Will my choices encourage them to make the best choices?
This reality was brought home to me recently when I read the story of Timothy Dalrymple. Timothy was the NCAA's top-ranked gymnast as a sophomore at Stanford until a broken neck ended his career. In God's providence, that disaster opened up opportunities for him to deepen his faith and also earn a Ph.D. at Harvard.
While lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling, Timothy had plenty of time to think. He says that even as a child "I had a philosophical bent and spent a lot of time thinking about all sorts of ultimate questions, especially the question of whether there is some sort of existence beyond death. I don't know which one I found more terrifying, that there would be some existence or that there would not."
Yet, when asked what helped him to grow in his faith, philosophical questions gave way to a personal relationship and example. "The example of my father," Dalrymple replied, "not only a pastor but a genuinely loving, faithful, righteous person, helped. I saw in his life something undeniably true that I couldn't explain away."
That’s right. It was not his father’s Sunday sermons or his “at home” sermons. It was not his father’s theological explanations or his philosophical thoughts that sealed the deal for Timothy. It was his father’s faith lived out in the day-to-day grind of life that was beyond question for him. It was a life well lived that compelled him toward Christ.
And I am motivated to live that kind of life, one that can’t be explained away. It is a life so GOD focused that while it makes little sense on earth, its presence causes a ripple in the fabric of life. I hope those ripples are waves that will carry my own children into the future with a life that can’t be explained too. That is the kind of dad I want for my grandchildren. 

“Who, Me?”
Parenting a child for destiny is a great task. How does one raise a child to become king or queen? “After all, who am I?” is most likely our response. Most parents tend to think of themselves as an ordinary Joe or Jill, going through the routines of life such as work, school, church, etc. We just fit in with everyone else. We sit & watch our kids perform on the dance floor or the football field. Thoughts of destiny or royalty are rarely on our minds. For many parents, the main goal is to get children through the teenage years without too many injuries-to them or to us. Who am I to think that my child may have a massive influence on the world? But why not? Why should your child not be a major player in history?
As I scan the Bible, I see a pattern about the famous people there, the ones who shaped history and changed the future. They were ordinary individuals living life like most of us. They dressed, talked and behaved like every other family in the village. They were going through the routines of life like the rest of us.  And it was out of that normal routine that GOD set apart that individual for His plans. And the world was different because of it. People in the Bible like Moses, Noah and Simon Peter were living an ordinary life when GOD invited them to follow them. And that is when life went to another level altogether. The normal became “super normal.”
Here’s a lesson:  Do not let the ordinary rob you of the extraordinary potential. Be careful that you don’t get sucked into thinking that life is a meaningless series of days and years that will eventually come to a last breath in a nursing home.
And when you recognize the significance of your solitary life, then you will begin to realize that your role as a parent will have a deep and lasting impact on your child as well as the world in which he will live.
Understand who you are. Understand why you were created. And understand the role you play in creating a different future for many people simply because you are a parent. Your life has great meaning. And from that reality you can raise a child who lives with significance.

When Your Story is Written

Living a life of destiny requires risk. There is no escaping that reality. Destiny means going places where others will not go or have not gone. And one reason they have chosen to stay is because it is much safer to stay. Going is risky. Destiny is risky. Living out one’s destiny always brings us to a cliff where we must choose to jump or just stay put.
Risk is a chapter from my family’s story. We sensed a call from GOD to move back to our hometown to plant a church many years ago. Our sons were 8 and 12 years old. We had no guarantees that it would work. However we did have the guarantee that GOD would use this jump in the lives of our sons. We knew that they would not forget the faithfulness and sufficiency of GOD to provide for our every need. We knew it would be a defining moment for them to own their faith for themselves rather than just be a Baptist because their parents were. While this part of our story did not exactly turn out as we had prayed and anticipated, what GOD did in the lives of our sons was more than we had anticipated (and that story is still being written).
Children of destiny are often born to parents of destiny. They live out of a sense of calling, a life that has called them to take risks. It has cost them. They do not just follow the ordinary because they fit in. They have set the pattern and their lives have said to their children, “Following Jesus is not always safe. It can be risky. But don’t let fear control your destiny. Jesus is greater than the unknown.”
Children raised in this environment of faith will not be frightened away from destiny. They will be liberated to hear and obey the voice of Jesus to go to new places and change the world. They will have seen their parents follow Jesus into the unknown, even parents who stumble along the way. They will know what destiny is like because they will have lived in its shadow.  
It begs the question for us parents: Are we living GOD’S destiny? Are we living out of a sense of calling? What has it cost us to become what GOD has designed us to become?
Take the risk. Live a life of destiny. Start a generation that will hear the voice of Jesus and follow Him.

Vocation
The word “vocation” is from Latin, vocatio.  It means “a call, summons”.  Vocation is more than employment or career.  Vocation is about knowing your purpose.  It means knowing that GOD created your heart with its desires, discovering the direction of your heart and then following it with passion and joy because that is who you are.  It means being true to yourself and to the GOD who created you.  Vocation is about destiny.
 Eric Greitens is 38 years old.  He is a Rhodes scholar and humanitarian worker turned U.S. Navy SEAL. He served multiple tours overseas fighting terrorist cells and received several military awards. Today, he is the CEO of The Mission Continues, a nonprofit foundation he created to help wounded and disabled veterans find ways to serve their communities at home.
These words are from his commencement address at Tufts University in May 2012: 
 "The best definition I have ever heard of a vocation is that it's the place where your great joy meets the world's great need.  For you to build that vocation will take both compassion and courage . . . We need all of you to find your vocation. To develop your joys, your passions, and to match them to the world's great needs."
We live life to the fullest when we know we are doing what GOD created us to do.  That is what makes it a “calling.”  Parenting is not about making great athletes or actors or CEO’s or plumbers.  It is about knowing what GOD made that child to do & to be, then preparing the way for them to get there or preparing them for the way to get there. It is about helping them discover their “vocation.” Ask them, “What is your great joy?” and “How will that help people?” When your children begin thinking in those terms, they are on the road of destiny.