Simple wisdom from a 4 year old

I wanted to share some learning with you. Some learning from my four year old. My youngest son Noah (aged 4) and I have had a lot of time together this last 18 months and it amazes me how much he shows me when I look at life though his eyes.

1. He loves to wear bigger shoes – POSITIONED FOR GROWTH
Any parent will tell you that children’s shoes are expensive and key to the next purchase is to ensure there is room to grow. It’s what children do, they grow. As adults we tend to go for comfort and style, but not growth. When you put yourself in a bigger space, growth follows. When you seek comfort, growth rarely happens. What does it look like for you to grow right now? Growth can be uncomfortable, but when you are clear on your purpose, the potential pain of growth can be outweighed by moving closer to who you were made to be. For me, I want to grow in my ability to operate from rest. ‘Constantly achieving’ is a huge thing for me. I now factor ‘rest’ points into my week and in a funny way, I’m much more productive! I also want to grow in being savvy in the kitchen. I have a dream to write a book ‘Cooking for the savvy’. Time and money are precious resources. I learnt this in a season when money was very stretched and with a very busy job I thought ‘how can I use this gold to bless others?’ I’m jotting down some cost and time effective meals ready for the book! I also want to grow in my skills and breadth in coaching. I’ve recently taken on a new role that will keep my learning alive as I share a space to facilitate others learning how to coach. What areas of your life could you wear bigger shoes to see the growth follow?

2. Noah demands choice – CHOICE IS EMPOWERING

In our chill time watching TV, Noah will often say, ‘Me choose one’. Noah will not sit and watch anything!! He needs to not only choose the programme, but the specific episode – this is not a quick thing. Whilst I would love to put on something quickly so I can go and cook tea, he stands next to the TV saying ‘go up, go down’….. until the specific episode of Paw Patrol is found. He doesn’t settle for anything, he ensures choice. Sometimes things in life can happen and we feel stuck, without choice. But in fact this is very rarely true. One of the things I love about coaching is that I often show the person I’m working with that there is choice. It’s so empowering. When you have choice, you feel confident to decide and move forward.

3. ‘Mum, just sit with me’ – BEING INSTEAD OF DOING

I’m sure Noah’s ‘love language’ is quality time. As a mum, I feel the wide responsibilities to keep home/family/work life running, yet Noah just wants me to sit with him. My ‘achieving hat’ has had to learn that achieving in this moment, is sitting with my boy, just being together. As a Christian, I’ve also been learning this about God, my loving Heavenly Father. He loves me just sitting with him, being with him, spending time – no need to achieve constantly.

It’s so easy to see what we can’t do right now. But there is always growth to be had. It’s often not about the destination, but the journey of who you are becoming along the way. For me, I want to look back at this season and see in me a greater trust in God than ever before, a greater understanding in who I am, a delight in work that is having huge impact, and space to empower others to have choice where they feel stuck.

What are you learning at the moment? What does it look like for you to position yourself for growth? To see choice? To see the growth in who you are becoming on this journey?