WHO not WHAT

Crystal and i have thought and talked a lot about parenting the past year and a half. understandably so.
i think about it constantly because we want to help shape Keira into the amazing person God made her to be.

this is a thought i was pondering recently:
*it SEEMS to me that many parents focus on WHAT their children will be when they grow up. as in what they will DO. what profession they will choose.
or maybe most parents don't really start with that focus, but that is pretty much the grid our Westernized American culture sees everything through. maybe parents just migrate their.

so the focus becomes helping my child become the WHAT - a profession. parents want their children to become good WHATs. help them get into a good profession.

*as if there is any such thing. as if there are some good professions and some bad ones.

i don't think there are.

i think there are good salesmen and bad ones.
good pastors and bad ones.
good janitors and bad ones.
good teachers and bad ones.
good missionaries and bad ones.
good doctors and bad ones.
good lawyers and bad ones.

a profession is just a WHAT. the person is a WHO and that's what really matters.

so, Crystal and i definitely take a different approach as parents. we are ALL about WHO Keira is going to be.
we focus on the person she is BECOMING.
WHO she is going to be when she grows up.
NOT what kind of profession she will have -- because, WE COULD NOT CARE LESS.

we do care immensely about the kind of person she will become.

that's why we chose 5 values before she was born that we would always focus our parenting around. these 5 values represent the kind of person we would love to help her BECOME. (and within each of the 5 values are a few more descriptive values that make up the main 5 values for us. 20 words in all... those sub-values are in parentheses.)
when we think about the end we have in mind for Keira, this is it:

Love - knowing she is loved, overwhelmed by that, & then LOVES all people. (respectful, welcoming)
Generous - GIVING (thankful, blessing, selfless)
Revolutionary - far from status quo (passionate, stories, dreamer, corageous)
Trust God - no matter what. unwavering faith. radical trust (positive, humble, wise)
Renown - everyone lives for a renown, my prayer is that Keira figures out the only one worth living for... (Joy, Live it, unique)

this is the grid we want to think and parent through. keeping these values at the forefront.
if Keira is an adult who lives that kind of lifestyle, i won't even worry about what she "does" for a profession.