How Do I Plan for My Kids' Future Without Panic?

You ever lay awake at night thinking about your kid's future, running through those what if after what if scenarios, trying to protect them from things that haven't even happened honestly, maybe will never happen. If you want to prepare well without letting that fear take over your heart.Today we're going to build a plan that's grounded in wisdom and anchored in peace and vision. Heart, sun and no division. Hey friend. Ralph Estep Jr. Here. This is financially Confident Christian.This is your daily dose of breaking that cycle of financial shame and finding confidence. And I got this listener question today and it really made me think about how do we plan for our kids future without being driven by fear?Well, let's get right to our listener question today. Listener writes this Ralph I find myself lying awake anxious about my kids future, imagining everything that could go wrong.My mind runs to worst case scenarios and it's hard to quiet it. Sure, I want to be responsible and prepare well, but I don't want fear to drive my decisions or steal my peace.Ralph how do I create a plan that's wise and grounded while still anchored in faith and a steady heart? There's a lot of weight in that question, isn't there? And I totally get it if you've listened to the show at all. You know, I've raised two boys.My boys are 24 and 28 at this point and I'm getting ready to have my first grandchildren. And so I totally get where you're coming from today because when it comes to our kids, if it was just financial, it'd be easy, wouldn't it?But it's deeply personal. It's personal to a level that I don't even know that you can realize until you're a parent. But when you're a parent, you have this overarching goal.You want to protect your kids, you want to provide for them, you want to set them up well. And listen, I'm not telling you that's not a good desire. That's a great desire to have. But with that for so many people comes this level of fear.And that fear is when we try to take those good desires and we turn it into pressure. So here's what I really want to focus in on today. I want to talk about faithful planning for the future without surrendering your peace to that fear.But how do we get there? The first thing we've got to do, ultimately we've got to do this, is separate preparation from fear. Planning is a very wise thing to do.Hey, planning is biblical. I talk about that on the show all the time to plan is a biblical truth. But that's not where fear lives.Fear says things like, what if I don't do enough? What if everything falls apart? What if I fail them? I thought that so many times of my boys, what if I fail them?I think about that with my grandson that's going to be born here soon. Will I measure up? I think we've all felt that at times, haven't we? But you can flip the script, and today you can do that by preparing.Because preparation says this. I'm going to take the next right step.Yes, I might fail, I might make mistakes, but, man, I'm going to work hard at preparing to take that next right step. Fear tries to control the future, but faith prepares and trusts God with the rest. So here's how you practically do that.You've got to focus on what you can control. Right now, at this very moment, in my mind and in so many minds, your mind wants to jump 10 years ahead.When I meet with young couples, they're always talking about, oh, we're going to be putting away money for our college, for our kids college. And they're going to be this and that career. And those things are great, but that's not what's going on today. Guess what?If you have children or grandchildren, you are going to be living a life of unexpected situations. It's just the nature of what it is. But peace is found. When you look at today. Ask yourself this question, what can I do today?Are there some consistent habits I can build today? Can I create some basic saving strategies? Can I teach my kids about money?Here's a great one that a lot of us don't do a good job at and is, can I model wise decisions now for my children? Our children and our grandchildren are like sponges around us. They're looking at everything we do.But you don't have to solve their entire future right at this moment. You've just got to take one step today, which means you got to build a simple foundational system.You don't need some complex plan with a hundred different nuances to it. You just need a steady plan. I'm going to say something rather harsh. Get your house in order.The number one thing you can do for your children and your grandchildren is get your own house in order. Maybe you start with an emergency fund. Maybe that's something you've been putting off.You've heard me talk about it, and you're like, yeah, I got to do that. Get that done, get that started. Maybe set up some basic life insurance. This is one of the most neglected areas of people's personal finance.Go and talk to an insurance agent and. And get a basic life insurance policy so that you're not burdening your kids or your grandkids or your other loved ones.Start building a consistent savings plan, even a small amount, or go get a simple will or some kind of estate plan done.You will be amazed that how many people that I work with who got all their financial stuff together, but they don't have a will, they don't have an estate plan. And none of these things I talked about today are drastic moves. They're foundational ones.But if you want to live in financial peace and you want to give to your children and your grandchildren, build that foundation, because that foundation creates that peace. But here's another thing a lot of parents don't want to talk about. You got to teach your kids, not just provide for them.And this is super powerful because it's something. I don't think we do this well. I'll speak for myself. I'll speak for this country, United States.The greatest gift that you can give your kids and your grandkids is not what you leave them. It's what you teach them. This is where you can have an impact. Yeah, that's great. You want to leave your kids something.You want to leave your grandkids something. That's fantastic. I think there's a place for that. But the greatest impact that you will ever have is when you teach them how to handle money.It's amazing to me. We send kids off to college, we have zero training on how to manage money, and we figure they're just going to figure it out. Did you figure it out?Teach your kids how to live within their means. Teach them scarcity. Teach them how to manage those resources, but don't neglect teaching them how to trust God. God is the provider.This show is about faith and finance. And it'd be very easy for me to say, well, we're just gonna talk about the finance side.But as you're teaching these money lessons, teach them about looking to God and saying, God, I know you can provide this, but how? Teach them how to make wise decisions, because there will come a time when provision runs out.But wisdom, that's the very thing that will continue to multiply. And here's another takeaway for today. You got to anchor your heart in trust and not control. I want to bring this back to your heart.Probably 95% of what I talk about on this show is really about your heart. When you get past all the nonsense on the outside, it's really what's going on in your heart.What's really driving this anxiety that you're feeling today is the desire to control the outcome. We all feel that. Our flesh tells us that we want to control what the outcomes are. But guess what, friend? You can't control everything.I want to repeat that. It's taken me 53 years to realize this. You can't control everything. And guess what? You never were meant to control everything.God loves your children even more than you do. Did you hear that? God in heaven loves your children even more than you do. He's with them in all of their struggles.He's guiding them in all of their decisions. And yes, he's providing for them. I'm not saying don't do your part. Do your part faithfully, but don't live in fear. Trust him.Trust him with what you can't carry and what you can't do. Because in the end, yes, you can prepare wisely without carrying the weight of what ifs. So here's your one win for today.I want you to really think about this one today. Choose one simple step to support your kid's future. Just one. I don't want you to build a book this amazing, all these things. Just start with one.Maybe start a small savings plan, review your insurance. Maybe it's as simple as having one conversation with your children. Because that one step is how peace begins.Well, let's get to our Bible verse today comes to us from the book of Proverbs, chapter 13, verse 22. A good person leaves an inheritance to their children's children. It's really what we're talking about today.But now on its face, it'd be really easy to say, oh, okay, Ralph, you just contradicted what you said. You said, I'm going to leave an inheritance. But guess what? Inheritance can be wisdom. It can be intention.So God calls us to be intentional, but to also trust him with the outcomes we can't control. My grandson's going to be born here very soon. I had to put that into the Lord's hands. I would love to control that entire situation.I look at it and I go, I'm going to help him make all the right decisions. I can't do that. But our Father in heaven can. How about we pray together right now?Heavenly Father, right now, I lift up my friend who's caring concern for their children. Lord, I feel that same concern for my children and my future grandson. And Lord, you see that love.You see all of our desires to do what's right, but you see that anxiety that's trying to take hold of our lives. So right now, at this very moment, Lord, I ask that you would replace that fear with your peace.Give us wisdom to take steady, simple steps and remind us all that we're never alone in this. You love our children. You're caring for our children.Help us to trust you with what we can't control, Lord, and the ability to walk forward with confidence in what we can control. Support our families and this family with your protection, Lord, your provision and ultimately your peace. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen, friend.You don't have to control the future. You can't control the future. You just have to walk faithfully today.And maybe something right now is you're questioning that and you want a plan to move forward wisely without carrying the weight of those what ifs. If you've got a question, I'd love to hear your question. You can send to it to me by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/questionWe'll put a link right in the show notes. But again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question. I just want to thank you so much for joining me today. It's a passionate episode today.I want to encourage you stay financially savvy. May God bless you and you have a truly great day today.