Your Family is a Think Tank

Have you ever thought about your fam­i­ly as a col­lec­tion of great minds? 

As my chil­dren grow in stature, they reveal them­selves as indi­vid­u­als. As a result, I start to see them less as lit­tle per­sons to be raised and more as humans to be men­tored. At some point in this men­tor­ship rela­tion­ship I start to glimpse a big­ger pic­ture. These aren’t just lit­tle chil­dren that I must raise to adult­hood. These are indi­vid­u­als that God has placed in my life to work toward sal­va­tion. I have more to learn from rais­ing my boys as I have to teach.  Sure, I may ask ques­tions that pro­mote think­ing and prob­lem solv­ing, but my chil­dren also ask ques­tions that chal­lenge me. So while I am focused on rais­ing mod­ern day knights, to assume that I am unchanged by the process is naive. 

The fact is that “iron sharp­ens iron”, which means that my chil­dren sharp­en me and I sharp­en them.  This think tank that we find in our chil­dren around us is a won­der­ful source of cre­ative genius. Think about it, most of your adult friends would nev­er give you the sug­ges­tions or solu­tions to your prob­lems that your kids would. Yes, their ideas may seem sil­ly some­times, but more often than not, their ideas are fresh and should be con­sid­ered. Each per­son is unique and has some­thing to offer the world and the peo­ple in it. Your chil­dren are not exclu­sive to this truth. God gave them curios­i­ty and great minds to think, chal­lenge, and impact the world around them, begin­ning with you. 

Each year, Amer­i­cans spend thou­sands of dol­lars to join mas­ter­minds, face­book groups, and com­mu­ni­ties. Mas­ter­minds are a great place to learn and grow and build rela­tion­ships and knowl­edge. How­ev­er, In your earnest­ness to join a mas­ter­mind, don’t neglect the think tank that God has placed right in your own home.