Slow Down!

Last spring at one of my son’s soccer games, I was feeling that “motherly” frustration at my son’s performance. I stood on the sidelines shouting things like, “Stay in your own lane!” “Turn around!” “Pay attention!” “Keep running!” etc… My husband looked at me and gently said, “Angie, he is doing well. You cannot expect him to have skills he doesn’t yet have.”

See, there are a lot of steps in soccer and, for non-auditory kiddos like Nate, putting it all together takes time, practice, isolated skill development, etc… My husband reminded me that I needed to be rooting for his personal gains and not worrying about the skills he still hasn’t mastered.

We often compare our children to others’ as we live in a very competitive world. We must ask ourselves, “What kind of race are we in? And where are we going?” We all have our own vision of the outcome we desire for our children, but we must recognize that God’s desired purpose and plan for each child is different…and different is good.

As parents raising a generation of children in a very competitive, fast-paced society we must be careful not to step in front of God and believe that our plans for our children are greater than His. We must trust Jeremiah 29:11 that states “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God loves our children more than we do. We need to trade out the time we spend worrying over them with time spent praying over them…and trust God, their creator, to reveal His promises for them.

Let’s move at the pace our children are showing us they can handle, nurturing them in wisdom and truth while modeling Christ-like grace and love. Lastly, let’s all just slow down!

-Angie Knight, Founder
Marian Hope