Hitting The High Notes

CORE PRACTICE #36: Model appreciation of differences by treating each of your children as an individual with distinct needs at school and interests at home.

As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob. —Genesis 25:27-28

TONY

Lauren and I want to introduce our children to music, perhaps to see who will become a musician of some note (pun intended). To help make that happen, we have a piano in our living room. Lauren has played the piano since childhood and still does today, and our initial dream was to have all of our kids become pianists. Okay, maybe not concert pianists—we would have loved to see any of them take that path if it turned out to be an area of giftedness, but we at least hoped they’d become proficient in playing piano and appreciate the joys of playing a musical instrument.

And so at one time or another during their childhood years, all of our children took piano lessons. We discovered that they didn’t all have the same skill or interest in playing the piano or any musical instrument. And as much as Lauren and I would have loved to have nine pianists in our family, we don’t have any—at the moment.

Justin is the most musically inclined, and he has a great voice. But he followed Eric in gravitating toward football. Jordan is all-consumed with electronics and gadgets, and he is the first one we go to whenever we have a computer question. Jade has been drawn to art and loves to do all varieties of artwork. All three children have developed a basic working knowledge of music through their piano lessons, but we have allowed them to explore their individual and unique interests. That is the way God made them—and that is what we want to try to help them develop.

This is true of the family of God as well. Lauren and I are involved in a number of worthwhile ministry outreaches. One that has been extremely gratifying to be involved with is Impact for Living. This ministry produces conferences, seminars, and a blog designed to help people uncover their unique passions and gifts. It then guides them to maximize those gifts as they better understand how God created them uniquely for this time in history.

Impact for Living emphasizes that our lives are comprised of four pillars of unique attributes that when maximized move us toward becoming all God created us to be. Those attributes are: purpose, passion, potential, and platform. In particular, the pillar of potential makes it clear that we each have been created by God with unique abilities and talents.

If you are a parent, you are purposefully positioned to nurture and help your own kids discover the unique ways God created them—even if that means putting up with clashing piano chords, paint spills, or cuts and bruises after the latest game.

Adventure Application: Maybe you’ve been trying to get your spouse or child to become someone God didn’t create him or her to be. If so, consider a different approach, remembering that we are each wonderfully and uniquely created by God.