My family is getting together this weekend at my parent's house. My mom & dad, my sister, her husband, her son & daughter, my husband, son & daughter, and my cousin and her daughter. Later, my aunt & uncle are coming to join us as well. Then we'll visit with my husband's family: his dad & step-mom, two aunts, an uncle, brother, his wife, their son & daughter, five cousins, their husbands, and two brand new babies--less than 2 months old!
I was just thinking about how, if I was to say the prayer at dinner, how I would want to say something about my family. (I would never say this at a dinner prayer, because my sarcastic brother-in-law would say "Save it for your quiet time, we want to eat!" if the prayer got too long, say, more than 10 seconds.) It amazes me how in this wretched world we live in, everyone in my family is so blessed. We are blessed and bless others. I don't mean this arrogantly, but in praise and awe of God. God has done His work in each of our hearts, to soften us toward serving Him and people in need. It really is a rare thing!
People in my family see potential in people, especially children. That is very exciting to me! They teach, train, encourage, feed, serve, strengthen, attend, soothe, support, motivate, affect, guide, share, give, admonish, correct, befriend, humor, pamper, accompany, forgive, calm, nourish, comfort, love, care for, listen to, empower, restore, guard, shepherd, aid, bless, champion, protect, relieve, cheer, and help others with God's love and power. They are flexible and willing to learn. We all have very different lives and careers, but all have the same bent towards valuing people. I love each one in my family, and am so thankful for them all!
It saddens me to admit that I don't know the names of all my great-grandparents. But there must be something they did to influence their children and grandchildren to live a life of value and importance. My grandparents raised their children to love God and love people. What motivated them? Their parents & grandparents? It comes down to the hand of God at work in their lives. Therefore, it really doesn't matter if my great-grandchildren know my name. (Which may also mean that finishing my scrapbooks isn't that big of a deal either. Whew! What a relief!) What matters is that I live for the Lord, and raise my children to love Him also. God's love is the thread of hope throughout time.
3 comments:
what an awesome post and insight. Your grandparents and great grandparents would be so proud of you and feel that they had accomplished in life what they wanted to do. This is a measure of success to me. Success can mean so many things to so many people. Once you asked me if i thought we were successful and the world usually measures that by fame, fortune and status, so if that's the case....not so much...but the true success to me is that 'yes, we do all love Jesus and try to share that love' and you expressed a true measure of success, too, in loving and caring for children.
A very lovely and accurate blog...thanks for writing it!
What a lovely picture you have portrayed of your family! We often think about our legacy we want to leave behind when we're gone, but one thing that God has been laying on my heart is our family legacy. I desire our family to be all about God's business and growing His Kingdom!
Your family is surely rewarded with many blessings in working with children!
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