Christian Unschooling: Are Desires Important?

Do you have great desires? Are there things you want to do with your life? Maybe you know in a vague kind of way that you need to do something, but you don’t know what you should do. Or perhaps your desires don’t feel important.

When I was a child, I had desires, but they came to nothing. Other people said that they knew what was best for me, and so I left my dreams behind. Yes, my desires felt like dreams. There was no way I was ever going to follow them.

But we should have dreams. We should have desires. Good ones. Ones implanted within us by God.  We should listen to the stirrings of our hearts and take action. Of course, some of our desires may end up being fulfilled in ways different from what we imagine, but they will lead us somewhere. They’ll involve our talents. They will make a difference.

That’s why I think it’s important to listen to our kids and what they’d like to do. They need their desires. They need to know how to listen to God deep within them. (So do we.) We shouldn’t trample over our children’s desires. We shouldn’t hide them under our own ideas.

When we aren’t used to desiring anything, we find it hard to desire God. And, of course, we need God. Perhaps all good desires lead to Him. They lead to Love.

Something Extra

If you’re interested, there’s a Christian unschooling section in my book Radical Unschool Love. There are also lots of stories in both Radical Unschool Love and Curious Unschoolers where I’ve mentioned God or talked about Him ‘between the lines’!

Photo

Our dog Quinn has lots of desires. She knows exactly what she wants: food, hugs, long walks, love. And because she knows what she wants, she finds a way to get what she needs!

What are your desires? What are your dreams and hopes? Do you know? And how do we know if our desires are from God? Do we need to know how to listen?