Being Content

I wish I would've done things differently when I was a teenager.  I put my mom through hell to the point that I think she just threw up her hands and quit.  Sorry Mom,  having a teenager now, I know the pain I put you though, even though my son is 10 times better than I was.  I look back at high school and I think of all the things I wish I would've done.  I wish I would've tried to get good grades, I wish I would've tried out for plays.  I wish I would've had a boyfriend.  Most importantly I wish I would've placed a higher importance in my faith. Now I have a son in school, the same school I went to.  Here's my second chance!  I can make him do all the things I wish I would've so he can have the perfect life!  Right? Umm yeah, not exactly.  He has a different idea for what he wants out of high school.  I pushed him to be in as many sports as possibly, to try out for plays and to find himself a nice Christian girlfriend that he can marry a few years out of school, (for all of you who didn't attend the same school as me, believe it or not this is more common than you would think).  I push him to work hard to get good grades(I will never stop pushing for this, sorry Bear)  I do this because I want what all parents want for their kids, I want him to be better than me, to do greater things than me, I want him to be a better Christian than I am.  I want him to have a life with which he is content.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my life.  God has blessed me with a good job, a nice house, a husband and kids that I love and many other countless things I don't deserve.  I just took the longer, harder road getting here.  I want the express train to the good life for  my children.  But how many stops do you miss on the express train?  Do you miss the stop that teaches you that having a lot of fun has consequences?  How about learning who you can trust and who you can't?  Those are important lessons everyone needs to learn.  I didn't learn them by having a boyfriend in high school or trying out for a play.  I learned them by living my life.  It occurs to me that I don't want my kids to have the life I wish I would've had.   I want them to live their life so they learn these lessons the way God has intended for them.  I want the best the life possible for them, I want them to have the experiences that will end up as great memories.  I want them to be content in this life and secure in their faith for the next!

Today is the end of the school year. I am going to pick up my son from his boarding school. Tonight I will watch him sing God's praises in the choir, just like I did.  I will watch him and his friends hug each other and cry as they say good bye to each other for the summer, just like I did.  I will watch him talk excitedly about being an upper classman next year, just like I did.  I will be happy for him because he is doing the things that will give him lasting memories, just like I have. I will rejoice, knowing that in God, he will have a blessed life and be content.