Maps

I love maps. I can't explain why I love maps, but I do. Whenever we are traveling I pick up a free map whereever I can. I like maps of theme parks and tourist maps of towns even though they are not drawn to scale and therefor not very helpful. I like state maps even though I know I will actually use my navigating device in my phone.

My son loves maps more than I do. On the wall of his college dorm is a specialized map. It is of the world, but the perspective is inverted, that is, the South Pole is at the top of the map and the North pole is at the bottom. There is no up or down in space so there is no reason not to look at the world this way, but it is a little jarring at first glance. It is not immediately recognizable. Iceland and Canada look too large to me; Florida looks too small. Looking at the map from a different perspective reveals things that were overlooked in the past.

It is easy to see people in only the one way we have always seen them too. Like the map of the world, we feel like we know them so well we don't need to pay close attention. Children have talents and abilities we overlook when we look from the same place over and over. Parents are often surprised when I, as the children and youth minister, report that their children where very helpful or very compassionate during class. That isn't how they see their child at home. (Other parents would be surprised if I told them that the child they report as nearly perfect is actually the most disruptive or disrespectful, but I generally don't bother to report poor behavior). As parents it is hard to see your child as a person in a group, often because there is no opportunity, we spend our time with our children in a small family group or one on one. It is hard to see children as spiritual beings. Most conversations center around what is for lunch and day to day drama. 

By seeing our children in only one way we may be missing some big talent (or flaw) in our children; we might be really misjudging the size of Iceland. To better guide our children we should try to see them from a new perspective. Volunteer in your child's class or (and this is a shameless plug) Sunday School class and hang back at the edges and watch your child interact with peers without your help. If you're feeling brave, ask a trusted teacher or friend how they see your child right now at this age without taking into consideration how they were last year or the year before.

Children change quickly and sometimes we miss what is happening and then our perspective is off and we don't see what we need to see. We need to see our children as clearly as possible because we, as parents, have been given the blessing and the responsibility of raising them to be good and Godly people.