Helping Your Child Find His Passion

Pretty sure that most people could figure out what my passion is within 5 minutes of talking to me. Attachment. Helping adopted & foster kiddos. Helping adoptive and foster families. It’s something I talk about ALL THE TIME.

My biological boys are blessed to have found their passions. My eldest is passionate about working with youth at a mission on a Native American Reservation. I’ve seen him walk through those halls, confidently. Grinning from ear to ear. He has discovered where he belongs and what he wants to do with his life. What a gift to have at the age of 20.

My middle son eats and breathes anything related to film. Loves watching films – old and new. He sees things in the world from a cinematographer’s point of view. And he’s been known to stay up late (after I think he’s gone to bed) working on his latest screenplay. He is my creative genius.

My youngest is in the discovery stage. He has really fallen in love with acting. We were fortunate to have found a school this year that focuses on acting and theater, in addition to great academics. It has been a really good fit for him this year. It will be fun to see if he decides to pursue this in the future.

For my girls, it has been a longer, harder road to finding their passions. They are adopted and came to us with loss. Grief. The impacts of trauma. They came to us not knowing how to be part of our family. Not knowing who they were. They came to us just trying to survive.

Over time, walls came down. We began to be able to pour into them all the things we could seamlessly pour into our boys. Love. Worth. Confidence. Hope. It was a process. A long, long process.

My oldest daughter is not there yet. She has some incredible gifts. She is academically brilliant and has an amazing talent at art. But, she has not reached the stage of finding her passion. She came to our family at almost 6 years old. A lot of damage had been done. Loss. Trauma. Neglect. It shaped her. Impact the wiring of her brain. She has made a lot of progress, but has not gotten to the point of knowing who she is. What makes her tick. And, honestly, there are still times she is just getting by. But I am holding onto hope that she will reach that point someday.

My youngest is dipping her toes in when it comes to passion. This year she is taking an art class. She is so talented. Wow, you should see her drawings. She has always been talented, but now she is taking some steps. Putting herself out there. Sharing her artwork. Posting it on social media. Being open to hearing from others about it. That is some great growth happening!

A few years ago, my middle daughter had this amazing transformation. She finally believed she was worthy. Worthy of good things. And wow…did we see a change. She blossomed. And with that came confidence. Willingness to put herself out there. Take some risks. She has started her own business. Buying and refurbishing furniture. And she has great success. She loves what she is doing and is incredibly good at it. Yes, there are times I have needed to help her work through some things, cheer her on a little louder, but she is there. She is thriving in her passion.

Passion. It’s what gives us purpose. Meaning. The fuel to get going in the morning. And what a great gift we can give our kiddos, and ourselves too.