The Future of Our Children
Written by: Kazima
If I was asked 10 years ago what I wanted for my future children, it would have gone something like this:
“I want my son(s) and daughter(s) to go to the best Ivy League schools and graduate at the top of their class. I want them to become the best doctors and make more money than I will ever make in my entire life. I want them to focus on their life, live their dreams and become successful. Of course, children won’t marry until they make something of themselves and are stable in life. No way in the world some husband is going to shatter my daughter’s dreams. Maybe one day they will be so rich they’ll buy us a mansion too and we won’t have to work another day in our lives. That is what my kids will do.”
Funny how our visions change after we have kids. Funny how our priorities are shaped by our experiences in ways we could never have imagined. As now, my vocabulary does not include the term “doctor.” Now, my definition of success is not based on financial stability and materialistic gains.
Today, it is not what my children will do for my happiness; but rather, it is what they will do for God. Today, I dream for my children to crave God’s nearness. I dream for them to be the poster child of their religion. I pray for their confidence, as they stand with their values like a white oak tree in the eye of a storm, unwavering and fearless.
Today, I pray for my children to cultivate hearts of compassion, empathy, generosity, and humility. I pray for their love to grow so big that it may encompass all the innocent lives across the seven seas within the four chambers of their hearts.
Today, I envision my children to gain limitless knowledge not to become workers but be the thinkers, inventors, and the leaders of tomorrow. I dream of my son and daughter changing the world and breaking barriers with the same tiny fingers that once fit in the palm of my hand.
Today, I pray my children find love for the sake of God. I wish for them to find someone that loves them because they love God. A soul that will bring them nearer to their creator like the nearness they feel in prostrating to Him.
It is today that I pray for these little pieces of my heart to find purpose and meaning in life. To live a life of intent. I pray for my children to find fulfillment and peace.
Today, I beg God for my children to be happy.