Be a Blessing

Yesterday I spent my day flushing my head in the toilet over something most would be elated about. You see, my youngest was going to be inducted into the Honor Society at school last night. I was proud but I wasn't. I was excited but I wasn't. The "wasn't" part is what I was plagued about all day. Why was I not thrilled about this?  After much prayer I pinpointed what my feelings were. 

I was going to go sit beside the parent who pushed and punished their kid into the honor society.  The parent who grounded their kid for making a B or a C. The parent who thought they had reached the pinnacle of their existence with their child being in the honor society. 

The pinnacle of their existence is not thet their child makes great grades because all that really means is there is a letter on a paper. It isn't the gauge that measures a child's purpose or intelligence or performance. Parents reach the pinnacle of their existence when their child walks with the sad, eats lunch with the new kid, includes the underdog when others shun them. They reach the pinnacle when their child loves God first and is a blessing to everyone they meet. Not when they make A's on a card. 

I realized that my youngest was a blessing first. Every day when she comes home from school I ask her who she was a blessing to that day. My last words before she gets on the bus is "Be a Blessing". And she is. The honor society is not something I aspired for my children. I aspire for them to be humble and kind. A friend to all. I also realized that the honor society was something she desired for herself and worked hard to achieve. I realized that she knew what was important in life and she also aspired to make good grades-on her own-not because I was wanting it FOR her or making her achieve such. 

So I went to the ceremony last night and burst with pride knowing that my child is a phenomenal human first, and makes stellar grades because it's what she wants to do. Something to truly be proud of. Developing character is a life skill. No one cares what grades you made in school once you are an adult. They care how you treat other humans. 

Friends, go be a blessing today. And if along the way, you decide to be the account executive of the year, or teacher of the year, or top salesman of the year, or Sergeant in the Army, then work hard to achieve that, but be a phenomenal human first. 

When I grow up, I want to be just like my kids because they are fantastic humans first. 

Jennifer