When I grow up...

So, what do you want to do when you grow up?

Maybe it was your crazy aunt at the holiday parties or a teacher you had growing up, but many of us have been asked that question time and time again.

As I sit here in a cold mud house, during a beautiful rain that has lasted over 12 hours during the Kenyan dry season...my answer is, I just don't know.

But then, I think about the question and wonder, why do we think that each person gets only one answer?

I mean, think about it for a minute, everybody grows up to be more than one thing right?  A husband, a father, a teacher, a best friend, a son, a ______, you fill in the blank.  But, am I right in thinking that the assumption in our culture is that there is only one right answer for each person and that answer should be how the person plans to make money when he or she is required to stop depending on their family and start providing for themselves?

I think we are inadvertently narrowing our children's options for the future...and, to be brutally honest, our own options for the future.

We live in a world with infinite options and while that is very hard to grasp, it is a truly beautiful thing.  I can be a son, husband, father, teacher, philanthropist, businessman, farmer, explorer, computer scientist, and more...all on the same day.  Depending on the day, I may be more of a father than I was the day before, or maybe more of an explorer, or philanthropist, depending on the things I have planned for that day or even that moment.

The next time I am wondering what my children's thoughts are for their future, I think I am going to change it a little bit from: "What do you want to be/do when you grow up?" to "As you grow up, what are some things you want to do?" and if they answer with one thing, I will follow up with, "and what else?" and continue a few more times to get them to think and realize that we have been blessed to live in a time and place where we truly can be and do an infinite number of things and we have the privilege to adjust our choice(s) at any time.

So, as I grow up I want to: be the Christian husband, father, and son that God has intended me to be, to empower others to realize and pursue their purpose in their lives, to build and nourish global friendships, and leverage these friendships to show love to people across the globe.

While none of these choices come with a paycheck, insurance, or a retirement package, I completely trust that God will provide the right opportunities at the right time for me to continue to live the life I was meant to live.