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The most important and lasting gifts that parents can give their children have nothing to do with material things. For example, a top priority for parents is to give the child, in the teen years, is a sense of purpose; that is, to encourage him to discover his (or her) calling in the Kingdom of God. The sad fact is that most people go to their graves without ever knowing why they were born in the first place. The popular way to find one's niche in life is by trial and error, but rarely does this method work. Herein lies the chief reason that so many adults are miserable in their jobs. Before your young person enrolls in college, encourage him to know why he is going. Most new students think they will discover their profession by attending, but too many do not. I, myself, graduated with a degree in humanities, and I could not find a job I enjoyed, let alone one that I was intended to be in. Teach your child that the only way to find his calling is to ask, in prayer. And one must ask and ask until an answer is given. Persistence is essential. But how does God answer? I have found two ways, but there must be many others. One way is that the Lord will increase an existing desire of the heart toward one pursuit, and another is that He may instill a brand new one that seems to come from no-where. He has used both of these for me. Perhaps this introduction justifies a discussion of us all; that is, how do we find out what we are supposed to do in this life? It is never too late to obtain an answer. Sometimes we are given an initial purpose that may change. In other words, our calling may be for a season only and therefore destined to be replaced by another at some point. In my case, I have been a broadcaster, an editor, a publicist, a vice-president of a prominent marketing company, a family therapist, a licensed psychologist, and a priest. The last one is my final assignment, I am sure. I am also certain that the earlier assignments did prepare me for my present role. So if you are advanced in years and wonder if there could be any options left, the answer is "yes". Also, our calling may be the way we make our living or it may be completely unrelated. I have known powerfully gifted people whose dynamic and productive ministries have had nothing to do with generating income. The most important thing to remember is that God has created all of us as unique individuals with a life-path unlike anyone else's. Above all, we must pursue His will for our lives, because His way is the only one that provides for maximum fulfillment and joy. Some of the mistakes we make in this journey are by accepting what our parents think we should be, by pursuing the profession or occupation of a parent, by either over-valuing our abilities or under-valuing them, and by doing what we guess would be fun. It may well be that we are destined to follow the occupational path of a parent, or that assumption might be absolutely wrong—even tragically mistaken. Any idea we have in this regard must be presented to God. We cannot guess or even to what seem correct. The only safe way is to follow directions. Years ago, my son-in-law gave me Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven Life. My reaction to reading it was that I thought everybody knew this. Since that time I have discovered that few people understand Reverend Warren's principles. His book was indeed needed. To my regret, I did not write it myself 40 years ago.
Article Source: http://www.christianarticledirectory.org
Father Ewart is the author of AM I BAD? Recovering from Abuse (Loving Healing Press) and is president of St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, a low-cost distance-learning opportunity for all denominations. His bio is at StJamesTheElderSeminary.org
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