I’m not sure I know the answer to this question but there must be something. The other day I was speaking to a new acquaintance who spent years as a missionary. As I typically do, I asked about his family, his kids. He proceeded to tell me how each one was doing, how they were making their way in the world. I admit I was jealous. Each child was living life with a sense of mission and purpose, making a difference in the world. This is not the first time I’ve talked to a current or former missionary and discovered that not only are their kids well adjusted, they are thriving. So what gives? You’d think that kids who are yanked from the security of family and friends and carted off to some strange part of the globe would wind up angry, resentful and somewhat a mess. Now I’m sure there are some children of missionaries who would identify with this. But in general it seems to me that missionary kids grow up with a real sense of purpose, solid self-image and are, well healthy.
I suspect the answer lies in the simple fact that they grew up in homes (or huts) where they saw their parents living with that sense of mission and purpose and so guess what, they grow up with a similar understanding that they were created by a loving God who has a mission for them. They live their lives on purpose and for a purpose. Maybe they don’t have it all figured out…most of us don’t. But instead of assuming that they are some random being in a random world, they grow up believing that they can accomplish something…that there’s a mission for them to fulfill and they go after it.
Living with that sense of mission in purpose is more caught than taught. So it begs the question, how do you live your life? What values are you instilling in your kids, not by what you say, but by how you spend your time, what things you make a priority in life.
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