Mother’s Day
My Mother came to the U.S. in 1970 with nothing but a dream. Even though my sister and I were raised in one of the most violent and drug-ridden neighborhoods in the country (at the time), we both, by the grace of God and the parenting of our Mother, made it out of the Ghetto without the Ghetto ever truly getting down inside of us… because of her example, instruction, and determination to do what was right, even when the right thing was hard.
Dr. Mark Hanby said, “A parent must do more than just have children. He raises his children to become mature adults. It is a painful, costly, time consuming, life draining, “stay up all hours of the night” type of relationship. It is not always a joyful experience for the parent or the child. The cost is everything a parent has within him. The benefit is a child who will honor his parent.”
I salute my Mother today and I bid a happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. God Bless you.
Parenting for Purpose
Ricardo Jr. is my firstborn. As he was growing up I believe it was natural for me to want to see him do certain things in life. For a while I talked to him about going to West Point and being a military officer. Then I talked to him about going to ORU and being a preacher. While he is a great kid and he wanted to please his Dad, I did not realize that I was putting undue pressure on him to be what I wanted him to be and not what God had placed in his heart.
Finally, one day, about five years ago, we had a great Father-Son talk and he expressed to me how much he truly wanted to be a chef. From that day we petitioned the Lord, believed God for favor, and started to prepare him to go down this path. Once he started flowing in his purpose, the favor of God was flowing freely. He received open doors to learn from great chefs, he put in the work (countless hours) in the kitchen and reading culinary arts books, and the Lord favored him to get accepted into the best Culinary School in the U.S. (and quite possibly the world).
Our Son has been cooking for us and for restaurant customers for years, but last night (in the video) our Son cooked for others right in front of them. The crowd loved him, the food was amazing, and most importantly he had a great time. As he drove home he told me, “Wow Dad, that was fun! I had a great time. It did not even seem like work. I was not nervous, I just flowed.” To which I replied, “It’s because you were flowing in your purpose.”
I often say, “Frustration sets in when you are making a demand on God for something that is not yours to have, however, when you find your purpose, you can make demands on God and find that He will always be willing to bless what He created inside of you!”
So two things:
- Parents, don’t force your kids to live the life YOU want them to have. Help them find their purpose and then nurture and feed that. If it’s God’s vision, then His provision will freely flow.
- For all, my prayer is that you FIND, FOLLOW, and then FINISH your purpose in life before you die!