According to Gbenga, “I still believe strongly that my mathematics would have been so much better if I was allowed to stick with my left-handedness.”
Another lady said: “Though I write right-handed, I can recall my mother snatching pencils out of my left hand and saying, “No! We write with our RIGHT- see? …Use your right hand” I remember it feeling weird, but I did as I was told.”
It’s the oddest thing to adapt to something unnatural in replacement of an innate aptitude, but children will generally not express every feeling under the control of their parents. Many studies show clearly that a lot is lost when people’s instincts are stifled! This is simply because the process implies a re-orientation of a natural configuration.
On an urgent note, people must be helped to identify and retain the real ‘them.’
So much of life challenges that we face as people can be avoided and or resolved if they are tackled from the position of ‘reality’. People who know who they are and are comfortable with themselves are more emotionally intelligent and ready for life.
As destiny facilitators, the question is ‘how do we prepare our children and wards to remain in their ‘reality’?
Interestingly, I read that DNAs are the molecules that encode the instructions that make us unique. These are passed on from adult organisms to their off springs during reproduction.
Thankfully the same reproductive process happens when we become born-again Christians.
Molecules that encode the instructions that make us unique are transferred to us from our adult organism (JESUS) through the cross.
So every child has his/her DNA passed on from their parents to them and for each child this DNA is unique to them! The thing about DNA is that you don’t see it but its right there! It’s the one thing that underscores your unique identity and the issue of unique identity is certainly important to God!
Consequently, as we raise our children, it is important that we realize that each child has their own DNA and more importantly, unique aptitudes and inclinations. The properly coordinated versions of these unique aptitudes and inclinations would come together to define their strengths in the final analysis.
These unique configurations and, therefore, individual inclinations vary widely and could be much more subtle than the obvious right-handedness of a child. It could be as mild as an affinity for a certain type of association or being averse to specific scenarios. This brings to the fore another competence in the job description of parenting: attention to details!
As destiny facilitators, we must become ‘native’ with the natural inclinations, abilities and gifts that our children carry so we can then help them identify with, develop and use them. However, these inclinations are usually not as clear to us as we would want, but as we understand better; we should take this role very seriously.
This is the point where Parents must begin to recognize the pointlessness of ‘comparing’. The Bible actually qualifies it:
“… but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10:12b)
By the time you get in tune with the uniqueness of your children, you will quickly realize that there are no two apples out there that are exactly the same. There is no basis for comparison! Rather, parents ought to channel their effort to discovering the depths of these inclinations and aptitudes so that we can properly guide… I call them ‘Powerbeds.’
Our efforts and resources should be channeled towards harnessing the seeds that they carry. Even relevant holiday camps, school extra-curricular activities can now become opportunities for the process.
Children must then be encouraged to be their best, not necessarily the best in class.
Who would have known that Bidemi’s tendency to write and write as a young girl would mean ‘Effectual’ in 2015? That was a Powerbed, which God harnessed for her. Thankfully.
In the final analysis, these Powerbeds lie in every child, and the role of parents is not to compare our children with others who somehow have their own Powerbeds honed. Instead, parents need to be attentive to the tendencies that are associated with our children and ‘work’ the Powerbeds as we identify them. Invariably, these are the necessary equipment for their life’s journeys, and it is in unraveling them that they can determine which ones really are relevant to the journey ahead.
Lord, help us!