Learning to parent with great expectations is one of the earliest lessons I learned as a way to plant hope in the hearts of my children. Hope not only for what they could do but for what God could do and wanted to do through them.
~it was a key that unlocked their potential.
~it was a window to see clearly through disappointments
~it was a path that led them to hope in the unseen
~it was a door that invited them into a deeper faith
“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” William Carey
It seems I’ve been a witness to the fulfillment of so many amazing expectations in the lives of my children. Each fulfillment clearly pointing our hearts toward a God who provides specifically and abundantly and continually.
When one worked hard and excelled to graduate Valedictorian and dreamed of studying at Oxford, we prayed and hoped and waited. The answer arrived in the form of a full college scholarship. The kind of scholarship that carried him to Oxford to be taught by one who was once the roommate of C.S. Lewis and another who was the speechwriter for Winston Churchill.
It was the kind of answer that fills a heart to overflowing and proclaims the truth of a God who makes a way when there seems to be no way.
When one experienced each week what it meant to enter into worship from Michael Neale and dreamed of leading others to do the same, we prayed and hoped and waited. The answer came in a full college scholarship, an internship, mentoring under Michael and a position as a worship pastor where eventually the two of them joined together and led thousands of men in worship.
It was the kind of answer that echoes through the mountain tops of a God who plans and prospers more abundantly than a heart can imagine.
When one wondered if a diagnosis would ever be found, thought maybe God had reserved the best for the other two and wondered if there was anything left for a dream that might take years to reach, we prayed and hoped and waited. And the answer came at the perfect time. A diagnosis necessary to move forward, a full college scholarship and a path to a long awaiting dream still unfolding today.
It was the kind of answer that silences all doubts and shouts of a God who is personal and never forgets and always blesses with His best.
We plant, we water, but God gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6
We teach them to embrace the expectation that God will bless them. And He will bless them greatly.
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Embracing great expectations takes hard work, patience, and diligence, but when they learn to place their hope in the God of all hope, it’s impossible to be disappointed. When they practice pressing in and waiting with confidence in spite of all that is unknown and unseen, they are shaped and chiseled and strengthened. So when the answer does come, they recognize from whom it came.
And when they learn the truth that their dream is not just about them, it opens their soul to a world in need of the very thing their heart longed for.
~a God who desires his best for them.
~a God who yearns for them to know He has a plan for them.
~a God who longs to captivate them with His love.
~a God who breathes life into every dream
~a God who passionately prepares a way for them
~a God who whispers grace and mercy and compassion into their soul
And a God who DARES them…
to live a life with GREAT EXPECTATIONS~
♥Come back next week for encouragement on how to help our children Embrace Great Expectations!
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Do you need to catch up on posts you’ve missed from the Parenting in Hope Series? Just click on the pictures and enjoy!