My Son, The Chef

When we adopted our two children, a friend gave me an inspirational calendar. Each day has excerpts from The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie O'Martian. Last Saturday, July 21st, it read: 

I pray that You would reveal to my child what his/her life work is to be and help him/her excel in it. Bless the work of his/her hands, and may he/she be able to earn a good living doing the work he/she loves and does best. 

A simple prayer but profound. What a gift, to love the work you do. So many people are miserable with their job/career and wish they had sought out something different. Many times, it takes years of study to earn a degree that isn't used for anything more than a wall covering. I want my children to do a work they love.

My son, Alec wants to be a Chef. He is now nine and has said this for the past three years. He loves to cook (and eat). He has plenty of years to change his mind if he wants to but for now, this is what he loves to do. So, I let him cook. There are plenty of lessons for him to learn in the kitchen. He has to use his math skills for measuring, his reading skills to comprehend a recipe, he knows that a good Chef always has clean hands, and a tidy work space. I will throw a bug in here for www.debbiestrayer.com where I found the books Eat Your Way Through The USA and Eat Your Way Around The World. We will be using these as part of our homeschool curriculum this year. For each state/country we study, we will make a dish to go along with the lesson.

Whether or not my son grows up to be a World Famous Chef, Restaurant Owner, or a just a man who knows how to cook, I want him to love his career. For now, my job is to help him on his journey as he discovers the things that are important and interesting to him.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Ecclesiastes 9:10a

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. 

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

1 Corinthians 10:31b

Heavenly Father, In your perfect time, reveal to my children what their life work will be. May they each excel and earn a good living doing a work they love. May your favor rest upon them through their years of training. May they each work with all their might, for your glory. Amen.

Smile :) donnamusing