Kingsport Spirit

There is something meaningful about speaking with young people who are still discovering who they are and who they are becoming. One of the best parts of our local high school leadership class is that the teacher asks each student to send a thank-you note to every guest speaker, reflecting on what they heard. Often, what students take away is not exactly what was expected. And every now and then, one of those notes becomes a deeper reminder.

This one did.

This particular student was quiet and somewhat stoic, perhaps shy. She reminded me of my own daughter, who loves deeply but doesn’t wear emotions on her sleeve. Honestly, her lack of expression made me think she wasn’t relating to what I had to say about how we all struggle initially to find our way, but God has a purpose for each of us. The sooner we find it, the happier and more productive we are. It’s not always a choice about earning potential, but about doing what you were put on this earth to do.

It was a reminder that young people are listening, even when they seem quiet. They are watching, even when they appear reserved. They are sorting through big questions about purpose, identity, family, and the future, and they are often hearing more than adults realize.

That should humble all of us.

As parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, pastors, and friends, we have a responsibility not simply to push children toward success as the world defines it, but to help them discern why God put them here in the first place. That is a much higher calling. It is not only about achievement, income, or status. It is about helping them discover the gifts God has placed within them and encouraging them to use those gifts faithfully.

Children do not need adults who script every step for them. They need adults who will be present, steady, prayerful, and wise. They need encouragement more than pressure. They need support more than control. They need room to listen for God’s voice and courage to follow where He leads.

That is especially true for fathers, whose presence carries enormous weight. A loving and faithful dad does not have to map out every detail of a child’s future. He simply has to be there, to encourage, to protect, to guide, and to love. The same is true of mothers and of every adult entrusted with the shaping of a young life. Influence is rarely limited to what we say. It is found in how we live, how we love, and what we model day after day.

The truth is that our influence reaches farther than we may ever know. What is planted in one generation often bears fruit in the next. Faithfulness ripples outward. So does courage. So does love. So does leadership.

On this Good Friday, that feels especially important to remember. We are not left to figure all of this out on our own. We have a Heavenly Father who does not abandon His children in their uncertainty. He calls, guides, corrects, strengthens, and reminds us whose we are. If we want to help the children in our lives find their purpose, we must first remember that our own purpose begins with Him.

Good Friday reminds us how far the Father was willing to go to redeem His children. And that gives us both hope and responsibility: hope, because we are loved beyond measure; responsibility, because the children entrusted to us need to see that love lived out in real and faithful ways.

Maybe that is the reminder for all of us. Our children are not ours to mold into our own image. They are God’s, entrusted to our care for a time. Our calling is to love them well, guide them wisely, and encourage them to become exactly who God created them to be.