Do you ever find yourself a little concerned about the things that your children are constantly talking about or what they're wanting or what they're thinking about all the day long? If so, this is for you.
I want to bring a new idea into your mind, an idea that will give you a picture of how it is that the mind is a garden. I want you to think about your children's mind as something that is completely virgin. It has never been planted in, it's never been touched, tiled, or any of those things. It's freshly land that is completely ready to be molded in, shaped into anything that you see it to be.
The Mind Is a Garden
Now, we come into parenthood in a way of just being so excited to finally be a parent, to have a baby, and then we quickly get overwhelmed by the cares of taking care of a child. The demands on us of sleepless nights, the constant changing of diapers, the constant feedings, the constant needs, and not being able to really communicate well with our children. And before you know it, we become in this routine of a parent where we're just focusing on the actions of parenting. Instead of thinking on the planning of parenting in the way of what do we do with this human?
We have been entrusted with what is it that we can do for this child that will not only make sure that they're safe and tended to and their needs meant, but that we're providing for them the very things necessary for not just making a living but living their purpose.
How is it that we can come into parenthood in a different way that will actually bring about a fruitful harvest when the time is right?
All right, so let's talk about this very virgin land of a child's mind. Regardless of how old your child is or the problems you're having right now, I want you to look at their mind as virgin if possible. Nothing tilt, nothing touched.
What I want you to do is I want you to begin to design in your mind what you would like to see as you take your hand off your child and say, go into the world. Take your place in this world and see what happens.
What it would you like to make sure is implanted into your child's mind by that time?
Now, you might have just a couple years, you might be on the last few months, or you might be blessed with your baby still in your womb and having this fresh new start.
Regardless of where your child is, I want you to be thinking about this concept that I'm going to be sharing with you about the mind is a garden.
Now, I want you to be thinking about all these things, and if you can take a piece of paper, begin to write this down. I want you to write down the thoughts and processes of what it would be like if you got to design who your child is at the end before they take that place into society.
Now, I'm gonna tell you based on my experience and based on the words of my mentor, Charlotte Mason, she had said in her original writings that mothers have the ability to bring our children up to anything we desire them to be. I've also heard it said that one word spoken to someone can totally alter the way their life turns out.
Just one influence.
That's it.
That's all it takes.
All right, so with that in mind, I don't want you to think about who your child is today. I want you to think about who you want them to become as they take their place in society.
I want you to plot out their mind like a garden. I want you to be thinking like right here.
I would like the seeds planted for peas perhaps, and over here for corn and over there for berries and over here for watermelon. And I want you to begin to plot that out. And I want you to be thinking about the character, the conduct, the beliefs, the actions that you would want them to be taking to make a livelihood for their families.
I want you to be thinking about their God given talents and skills that they have right now.
I want you to begin to plan out and map out their mind much like a garden.
Then I want you to take that step back and I want you to begin to say, what do I need to do as their parent to implant in them seeds?
What are the seeds that I need to plant those seeds, being spiritual germs of ideas, because ideas are what will actually flourish a child to be who they become.
Then I want you to start thinking, okay, how can I capture their earnest attention and getting this idea to take root so they take ownership of it, that they become excited about it, so they begin to say, yes, I do want those peas planted here. Yes, I do want the corns planted over there. Yes, I do want this over there.
Then we begin to see that our children can actually grow, but we also have to till the ground to prepare that. For that, to prepare for these seeds to be planted, we have to take out any of the rocks that may stop something really good to grow.
What are those rocks? What are those things hindering beautiful growth, fruitful purpose in your child's mind?
We need to begin to identify them and take them out to prepare the soil for these ideas we're going to plant in their mind.
Then we're going to go ahead and take out those little things little by little, and we're going to begin to till that ground by opening their hearts to these spiritual germs of ideas that we're about to implant into their mind, to bring forth these fruitful harvest of ideas of whom they will become.
As you do that, I want you to then begin to think about all the work that it takes to till the ground and to remove those rocks and recognize that's the true labor.
That's where the labor really is intensive, but it's for a time. It's not ongoing. It's a one time work for a harvest.
So what is it that you can do that would get that work out of the way for this maybe one idea, this one thing you wanna work on or maybe the second thing you wanna work on and just work on that area while still plotting out the rest so that you know where you're going and what it is that you still need to do next.
Begin to think about that hard work is only for a short period of time.
Then once you do the right thing, you're then giving the right nutrients, the sun, the water, making sure the weeds stay out of it. And then you're just protecting what you put in.
You're becoming defensive as well as offensive in that position.
Next thing you know, you'll begin to see the the roots taking, the seed taken root, and you'll begin to see it sprouting into this beautiful thing that you're going to begin seeing in character development and behavior in your children.
Then it takes a life of its own.
The hard work is done and then you can move on to another patch in their mind.
And before you know it, you'll be raising your children to grow in fruitful purpose.
That is what we as parents should be doing.
We often slack because it feels like it's hard work, and it is, but it's hard work with a reward at the end.
Your children are worth it.
But oftentimes we think the hard work is in the moment. And we need to make ourselves recognize that the work we're doing today benefits them tomorrow and the next day and years to come.
We really need to put this farmer type of mentality on us to know that our laborers bring forth our fruit and not be thinking, oh, this is so hard, which it is, but it also is so rewarding.
Put your mind on the rewards and be committed to the work in the process.
Take that garden one idea at a time.
One fruit at a time.
One spiritual germ being planted at a time.
Work really hard at keeping the weeds out by removing the rocks first and you will see a fruitful purpose happening in your children's minds.
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