God's Created Work in Our Children

Kevin and I have a yearly tradition. We go to the Grand Canyon with this group of crazy hikers.  Some of the group hikes rim to rim and others drive from the South Rim to the North Rim to pick the hikers up on the other side. We make the reservations a year in advance because getting a cabin on the North Rim of the Canyon is difficult.

It is a weekend we look forward to. A time to get away. To surround ourselves with the majestic beauty of one of the Seven Wonders of the World that is found practically in our backyard. Hanging out with friends, spending time in nature and being physically active is a breath of fresh air for my soul. I connect with God there. It’s a good thing. I, a created one, feel drawn once more to The Creator.

But this year we canceled our trip.

At the last minute a band banquet at Chandler High was scheduled on the same weekend. It was Katelyn’s last banquet as a graduating senior and there were rumors of our son Zach getting an award. Kevin and I knew we needed to be at the event. Because the Grand Canyon, in all its beautiful created awesomeness will be there next year and the next and the next, but our kids are growing up fast and will soon be gone and our years of active parenting will be over.

At the band banquet, Kevin and I were sitting at the parents’ table. Katelyn and other seniors had already been honored. Speeches had been made. Awards had been presented. Then two students got up and said they were going to announce who the next drum major would be.

Zach's name was called.

His peers applauded and cheered. Zach walked to the front of the room – the new drum major for the Chandler High marching band. And I don’t know how to explain what both Kevin and I sensed in that room, but we knew we were witnessing a created work of God right in front of our eyes, that Zach was stepping into a piece of his purpose and destiny.

And you might say, How can that be? What does being a drum major have to do with the purposes and destiny of God? What do saxophones and trumpets and metronomes and getting to school to practice at 5:30 in the morning and sheet music and time signatures and tuba players have to do with the destiny of God?

Psalm 139:13-16 says,

"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."

Our yet-to-be-born grandson's foot.

Thanks to the wonder of ultrasound, we can now see the hidden creative work of God in the womb.

Yet his creative work does not stop there. As our children grow, he continually unfolds his plan for them before our eyes. He continually shows us, as parents, the secret things he has put inside each of our kids - their unique, hidden, unformed substance.

In Genesis 2:20, we find an interesting fact. God didn't name the animals. Adam did. God did the creating, but Adam did the naming. He invites us to do the same.

When we catch a glimpse of who a child has been created to be and we see the workmanship of God in them, the hidden created substance put there in the womb that is brought to light, in that moment God invites us to join him in calling out and naming his created work. Just like Adam.

How Do We Call Out And Name

God's Created Work in Our Children?

1. We Speak It Out

When we see specific giftings in our kids, we say things like: You are a strategic thinker. You are a great listener. You can motivate others to action with your words. You are skilled at building things. You are comfortable in front of a crowd of people. We speak and name what God has created in the deep places of our children and we recognize God’s purpose and destiny in the life of our child. We have the awesome responsiblity of partnering with God in what he wants to do in our kids.

2. We Pray. We Talk to Jesus About it.

We live in a crazy world where the lives of our kids are being pulled in many directions by coaches, teachers, peers and the media. We would like to think the message our kids are believing is that they are unique and beautiful and incredible, but I think if we are honest, we know that usually they are hearing just the opposite. That they are ugly. Useless. A nobody.We need wisdom as parents. We need to know God is on our side. And the side of our kids. We need the help that is found in prayer.

3. We invest in dreams. We take steps to make a dream a reality.

Maybe the investment is time. It might be money. Or schooling. One thing I can tell you - it will involve sacrifice.

As parents, we recognize that being a drum major is a piece of God’s destiny for our son, Zach. That decision was not made without a lot of prayer on his part and on the part of Kevin and me. Yet we are very aware that there will be some big sacrifices ahead as Zach steps into that role. He will be at school an unreal amount of hours, yet following God’s purpose does not come without cost, without commitment, without sacrifice.

Purpose. Destiny. Dreams. It's all part of the creative work of God that he starts in the womb and as parents we get to be partners and witnesses of that work in the lives of our kids.

As a parent, it takes the Number One Spot as a Wonder of the World.