A Season of Change
Posted on: January 23, 2014
- In: Everyday Life | Faith | Family | Parenting
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For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1*
While the weather in Ottawa shows few signs of warming up and spring seems far off, my household is bracing not only for the bitter cold but also for change.
Not only is my son getting involved with our parish’s new youth group and preparing for confirmation, but he’s also trying to choose which one of several local high schools to attend in the fall.
It’s a difficult decision since our school visits so far have shown us well-maintained buildings, staff committed to seeing students thrive and succeed, and students who like their school and participate in activities and clubs. We’ve even ironed out the bus transportation issues. And so it’s coming down to opportunities for co-op programs and hands-on courses.
For those of us with children heading to high school or university who may not know what kind of career would suit their interests and abilities, it can be tempting to steer them toward what we think would be a good career and influence them to take courses to reach that goal. But to do so would be to ignore this direction from Proverbs 22:6:
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
I’ve heard this verse spoken of as referring to our children’s spiritual education. Yet I think it also refers to guiding our children in the path God wants them to follow, using the talents and spiritual gifts he has blessed them with.
We may dream that our children will pursue a career in medicine, for example, because we see this sector as providing stable or well-paying jobs; our children may in fact be called to a career in sales, the trades, the arts or the non-profit sector. We may wish that our children could know early and with certainty the career they’d like to pursue, but some may take longer to find their niche.
And so I pray that those of us with children preparing to begin high school or post-secondary education or training would pray for and with them that God would guide them in discovering their vocation and his plan for them (see Jeremiah 29:11).
(Scripture quotes taken from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition.)
A Catholic Convert in Ottawa 