Genius Child of God

My little Jake moves to the beat of his own drum. He is an amazing kid with so much personality, a love for life, and an enthusiasm for the "little things". He isn't like other children in personality or in his abilities at school. Jake's personality has a pure innocence that is difficult to put into words. Past teachers have tried to explain his genuine personality to me, but have never quite hit the mark always describing him as innocent.

As far as his abilities in school, well... Jake struggles with school. We have put Jake in numerous programs to help him along the way. We (his parents) are fully aware that he has dyslexic tendencies. We are also fully aware of the struggles that he faces as he tries to maneuver school and stay caught up with the rest of his grade. Perhaps, I should say that his dad is fully aware, because his dad struggled with the Exact. Same. Thing.

For the longest time I have been a cheer leader for Jake. I have told him that he is a genius. I have told him that he will struggle like his dad, but that if he keeps working hard--he will do amazing things--just like his dad. I have also told Jake that he is the smartest person I know!

I have told these truths to Jake several times for two reasons. First, because I believe it! Second, I knew that someday he would question just how smart he was capable of being. I knew that someday he would recognize his struggle compared to other students. And when that day came, I wanted him to be armed with the knowledge that I believed in him.

Up to this point, I have felt incredibly blessed that the ugly face of comparison had never presented itself. Jake hasn't seemed to care what other people are doing, or thinking... Well, until this morning. This morning, while we were doing piano--Jake stopped me in the middle and said,

"Mom, I want to be a genius now."

"Well, honey, I think you are a genius."

"No. Mom. I want to be the best in my class now. I am not the best in my class."

"Well, buddy... you don't have to be the best in your class to be smart. You are smart in other ways."

"Mom, I want to be really good at things right now. I want to go to school and show everyone that I am a genius. I want it right now."

"Jake, I promise you that if you keep on working hard, you will do amazing things. It may not be right now. You don't have to the best in your class right now to be super smart. Comparing yourself to others will only bring you down. I know you can do great things, buddy, I believe in you! Be patient."

I wish I would've taken a bit more time to love him and hug him and really listen. Sure, we chatted. Sure, I gave him encouragement. However, ever since he left for school I can't help but think I needed to capitalize on this moment even more.

Our children are precious sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. They are absolutely divine. This big world of ours sometimes makes it difficult to remember that we are divine when everyone and everything around us screams our imperfections. Satan is truly conniving as he pushes these comparisons into our view; he knows that if we dwell too long on those thoughts, we will become discouraged and possibly lose focus.

I'm going to try for a redo tonight. It is my hope that I didn't completely miss the window of opportunity to teach my beautiful son about his divine nature--that the most important things that any of us could ever accomplish is not being smart at school, but rather living up to the divinity within us; after-all, being a son of God is a pretty big deal!