Skip to content
  • Parents
    Find out how Faith in Kids can help…
    Help with...
    Resources
    Books
    Blogs
    Sharing Faith
    Navigating Life
    Other Blogs
    Training
    Upcoming Events
  • Kids' Leaders
    Find out how Faith in Kids can help…
    Resources for...
    Home
    School
    Church
    Our online training archive
    Blogs
    Keeping Going
    Navigating Ministry
    Other Blogs
    Training
    Upcoming Events
    Our Training Streams
  • Church Leaders
    Find out how Faith in Kids can help…
    Resources for...
    Home
    School
    Church
    Our online training archive
    What we're about
    Partner with us
    Blog
    Training
    Upcoming Events
  • |
  • Podcasts
  • Resources
  • Blog
Give
X-twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube

Blog

blog

Parenting with Purpose: The Ten Year Plan

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Sharing faith
 

Parenting with Purpose: The Ten Year Plan
Have you got it all planned out?
Planned out

JK Rowling had her seven Harry Potter books plotted out, one for each year Harry spends at Hogwarts school, before the first one was published. She had a very precise plan for her fictional ‘son’. What about you? Do you have your child’s future all plotted out? Maybe not on paper; that would be strange! But perhaps you do have a precise idea of how their life will roll on? What is your ten year plan is for your child? Or even your twenty year plan?

This may seem ridiculous – Of course you don’t have a plan! And yet, even if you’ve never thought about it, you are working to a plan for your child’s life every single day. You can see the plan by the priorities you have. By the decisions you make. By the events that make it into your diary. By the money you spend. By what you fight for, by what you determine must happen and by what causes you to worry.

By the age of about eight years old, I think your child knows what your ten year plan is for them. Even if you have never told them. How can they know? Because they see how you plan their schedule each week. They know what matters to you by what you make happen in their lives; school work, sport, tidiness, music practice or Bible time. They know what you want them to be good at. They know what you want them to prioritise. They notice what takes the priority over church. They know what you think is worth spending money on. Perhaps they have even noticed from your reactions what sort of car they should drive, what sort of home they should live in and what sort of person they should have as a friend.

When Paul wrote his letters to Timothy, at the start of each he calls Timothy his ‘true son’ and his ‘dear son’. Throughout his letters we hear his priorities, his commands, his wisdom, but we also hear a little more. Paul has spent so much time with Timothy that he can point to the priorities and decisions that Timothy has seen lived out in his life. Paul is very aware that life speaks of his priorities and his character.

10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.(2 Timothy 3:10-15)

Paul expects Timothy, his true son, to follow a similar pattern of life to Paul himself: one that will inevitably involve persecution and suffering. Wow. He is sure that he will do this firstly (v14) because of those he has learned it from and secondly (v15) because from his earliest years he has lived by the Bible, trusting in Jesus Christ for his salvation. As parents, we are those who will be teaching our children their convictions, not just with our words but with our ways of life. We are those who will show them faith and who will model what it looks like to live by the Bible.

We have many good hopes for our children that are born out of love for them – often we may want better for them than we experienced ourselves. We want their happiness. We want their safety. We want to protect them from being hurt or upset. Of course we do, but so few of these hopes are within our power to make happen. How comforting to know that our heavenly Father has every moment of his children’s lives in his hands (Psalm 139:16) and has what is best for them in mind (Romans 8:28) every step of the way.

We cannot write the ten year plan for our children. We cannot sketch out the book of their lives as J K Rowling did for Harry Potter. We can live our lives in front of our children making godly decisions, turning to Christ in difficulties and praying for the Spirit to make our characters more and more like our Saviour’s. We can also be deliberate in our priorities, in our passions and even in the sources of our joy. Our prayer must be that their testimony will be even more magical than Harry Potter’s.

share
  • view all blog posts

Share Faith in Kids

Recommendations
  • Resources
  • Books
  • Podcasts
Support Faith in Kids
  • Prayer
  • Vision sponsors
  • Fundraising event
  • Vacancies
Upcoming events
  • View upcoming events
About us
  • Who's who
  • Vision, mission & values
  • Annual reports
Contact us
  • Get in touch
  • Register for updates
Legal
  • Complaints Procedure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Safeguarding Policy
  • Cookies

All content © Faith in Kids 2025.

Faith in Kids is a registered charity (charity no 1176335).

DL Popup
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Read More
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
PHPSESSIDsessionTo identify your unique session on the website
SESSsessionTo ensure that you are recognised when you move from page to page within the site and that any information you have entered is remembered.
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
__utmapermanentThis cookie keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site pertaining to the cookie, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. Google Analytics uses the information from this cookie to calculate things like Days and Visits to purchase.
__utmbsession__utmb is a Google Analytics cookie. It takes a timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor enters a site.
__utmc30 mins__utmc takes a timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor leaves a site.
__utmz6 monthsKeeps track of where the visitor came from, what search engine you used, what link you clicked on, what keyword you used, and where they were in the world when you accessed a website. This cookie is how Google Analytics knows to whom and to what source / medium / keyword to assign the credit for a Goal Conversion or an Ecommerce Transaction.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
  • Context

  • Resource type

  • Topic

  • Bible Book

Parents
Find out how Faith in Kids can help…
Help with...
Resources
Books
Blogs
Sharing Faith
Navigating Life
Other Blogs
Training
Upcoming Events
Kids' Leaders
Find out how Faith in Kids can help…
Resources for...
Home
School
Church
Our online training archive
Blogs
Keeping Going
Navigating Ministry
Other Blogs
Training
Upcoming Events
Our Training Streams
Church Leaders
Find out how Faith in Kids can help…
Resources for...
Home
School
Church
Our online training archive
What we're about
Partner with us
Blog
Training
Upcoming Events
  • Podcasts
  • Resources
  • Upcoming Events
  • Blog
Give
X-twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube

Before downloading, please provide a few details

Your Role *
Mailing List

Submitting this form will set a browser cookie so we only have to ask you once.

Fields marked * are required.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Name *
Your Role *
Choose a password *
Mailing List
Loading