Kids- "Lo they are with you always, even unto the end of the earth!"
Last week was a big week for Betty and I as Ben and Megan had a new baby girl (that makes two) and Sara and John celebrated the first birthday of Owen, the cutest boy in Chicago! Being around for these two momentous occaisions gave me pause for thought. These kids start out so little and they take so much care, does it ever end?
My short answer is NO. We like to think that the lord has given them to us to raise, and under that senerio one would think that after 18 years they would be on their own and I told my kids exactly that last week when they asked. The truth is that once God gives them to you it lasts for the rest of your life. You see also last week my parents found out that my brother is getting a divorce and they feel all of his pain, even though he is 54. I realized that as long as I am around I will worry about my kids, the difference is that since they left the house I don't have as much influence on their choices. My care for them is much more in the area of prayer and praise. When they are little we control what TV they watch, who they play with, how much and what kinds of food they eat (I was told that Nacho Chips ard not on the 1 year old diet). As they get older we realize that our influence is getting smaller, the first time they listen to the teacher, but not to you! The way you feel about the friend that they have who tells them their first dirty joke! When they would rather be with their friends than with you. The final straw is when you discover, that just because you have raised them and fed them for 18 years, they are not bound to vote the same way as you in the election!!!
However, what I realized this last week is that this cycle has been going on since Adam and Eve. Can you imagine the conversation between Adam and Eve when they found out that Cain had killed Abel? "I told you that he was hanging with the wrong crownd", "He never had enough of his father's attention," "He was smothered by his mother's attention." "it is that darn U-Tube!!" As long as there have been parents, they have worried about raising their children.
I am so very proud of all of my grown children, and their spouses. They have made good choices and they are raising great children. As the parent and grand parent, I simply want to save them from the pain we have already gone through. I would like them to have the benefit of my years of experience. Then I realized that this is the definition of "Experience" is that it has to happen to YOU! I can not give someone, even my children whom I love, my experience, they have to have their own. So in the end we may be doomed to repeat the mistakes of our parents, but we also have the joy of experiencing for ourselves all that life has to offer. Live with all the joy that the Lord has for you and don't leave any behind.
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