What makes a home? Is it a roof, the walls, the things in the home or is it something more? Is it the people who reside in the home or does it go even deeper?
I really think we adults could learn a lot from Clifford. I mean, just listen to his stories. How often do we forget the lessons we learn as children as the demands of life change who we once were? Can our home remain strong if we sell out ourselves for a few pieces of silver? I guess the answer can only come from within your own heart.
Children don't need or really need or even want all the things we think they must have to have a great childhood. The greatest thing a parent can leave their child is faith and love. My own father was not a wealthy man. he worked hard as a caregiver, and yet I feel that my brothers and I have been left with a legacy that we can and should pass on to our own children. My parents tended their garden wells. We children were their garden.
When the day is done, what did you do for your children? Did you buy them every want yet left them in the care of others for hours, or neglected them as you worked late on paperwork you brought home? Children would rather have your time, not your money. Needs must be met but many things we call needs are nothing more than wants. Do you really need that program for your kids or would your time and energy be better spent playing with them in the park or laughing with them as you both are digging in the sandbox in your own back yard? What do you think they will remember next week more? Next year? Ten years from now? When you pass away and they are speaking at your funeral, will they talk about all the things you bought them, or will they instead be talking about all the time you spent doing things (ordinary things, like flying the kite in the spring, playing barbie dolls in the afternoon, teaching them how to fish, or reading the same story over and over again, with nary a sigh) with them?
So in the end, that cup you're hoping to win one day in the race you keep running, it's just an empty cup unless it's filled with the real legacy of love you leave; and then I hope it's overfilling.
Happy Tending!
Great post Kim. I worked as hard as I could the LORD's guidance raising my daughter. She's 26 now. Long story short, she only has 1 out 4 of her sons. He'll be 3 Feb. 1st. She tends to focus on the negative from her past. She doesn't recall the positive. I've left it in God's hands.
ReplyDeleteMy other blog you may find of interest:
A Wife's Reflections.