The girls are so excited, and let's be real honest here - I am super excited. For the trip, we will have four adults and two kiddos, which sounds pretty amazing. And, though I know the girls will still have hard moments, even at the "Happiest Place on Earth," I really believe they will overall have a great time. They have been involved in their own wardrobe planning for the trip, which has involved several conversations about which princesses they should dress as on which days. It's really all quite precious.
But, and I am going to be really honest here again, I find myself torn. I think that I am glad about the tension inside of myself, but I sometimes wish I could take life a little less seriously. I mean - it's a trip to Disney World. Who doesn't want to do that? And, I do want to do it - that's not the tension.
The tension is this: I do not want my children believing that Disney World is the peak of all that life has to offer.
I realize that most of the responsibility for this lies with me, the parent. I want them to have a great time and enjoy it, but I don't want life to feel empty when it's done. As I've wrestled in my heart with this, I've realized that I want them to know that life is about so much more than a fun trip - though it is an amazing blessing and perk. Life is about loving the God that we serve and loving others.
I know teaching them about eternal things and setting their eyes on things above is harder than counting down the days to Disney World, and that is why I find it easy to get trapped in doing what is easy. I am hoping and praying that they see the Lord in our lives and the different ways that we pour them out. We are trying to involve them in service, and I know that as they grow older, the opportunities we have to teach will expand. We talk about people that live differently than we do, and we try to help build a world perspective into them. Adoption has been a great way to get them asking questions and thinking differently.
And though I pretend that my kiddos need these lessons more than I do, it's something I am still learning and battling. Yesterday, a guy from our life insurance company came for us to review our policies. We went through all of our finances and heard more options about socking away money for the future. It all sounds so good - to have money tucked away for the unknown future and be masters of our financial destiny.
But - this is also not where life is at. At least, it's not where God wants us to live our life. We do want to be responsible and plan for the future - especially for our children. But, I don't want our security to be there, and I also know that we need to be giving a lot along the way. I firmly believe that we have been blessed to be a blessing and for us to hoard a bunch of money for our future would cause us to miss out on so many giving options all along the way.
Colossians 3:1-2
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.