What a funny title to an article. What does that mean? The end, what is the end? Do you ever stop parenting? Well, as a mother of grown children I can promise you it never stops and for that I am forever grateful. It definitely changes but you never stop parenting. When I say parent with the end in mind I’m referring to having vision. We hear a lot spoken about goals, setting goals and having vision for our lives. That seems like something we should all do, personally and I know many of you probably already do this. It’s great to have goals and to experience the joy of reaching those goals and setting new ones. Life is ever evolving. Today, I’d like to encourage you to have vision for just two things: 1) The parent you want to be 2) The children you want to raise So, I ask, what is the language you have spoken around yourself, in terms of what kind of parent you are or you want to be? Are you the encourager, cheerleader or supporter? Are you the parent that engages with your children in a way that helps them see beyond today, their circumstances and what is possible? Are you helping them set goals for themselves and are they seeing you set personal goals and do they see you achieve them? So many questions surrounding the kind of parent we all want to be. For myself, I always wanted to be a mother that could reach into the hearts of my children and help them, any way I could. Was this always possible, not always but I had vision and through that vision I was able to plant seeds, to nurture, to weather the storms and to stay strong even when I wanted to crumble. Yes, there were some hard days and we all have them so relax and keep going 🙂 In regards to your children you are raising. Again I ask, what is the language you have placed around them? Do you remind them how wise they are, how beautiful their future is and how blessed you are to have them in your life. Do you talk to them about their hearts and how a beautiful heart makes a beautiful person, that true beauty comes from the inside? I can tell you, from experience, words like these spoken over a child breathes vision into them. How can this happen? Your words allow their impressionable hearts and minds to believe that you can see them as wise children with a beautiful future and that because you feel blessed by them, they matter. A child hearing that their parent believes in them and is excited about their future only helps them step into tomorrow with confidence. Vision is a power thing. It’s been said that without vision men perish. With that in mind I can only believe that with vision men and women and children flourish. I encourage you to take sometime for yourself and even journal a few thoughts. Let vision dance in your mind as you dream about the amazing parent you are and the one you want to be. Smile as you think about your son(s) or daughter(s) and allow yourself a little more space to see how casting vision infront of them builds them from the inside out. Have the most glorious weekend. Much love, Susanna