HOME-BUILDING & SOUL-SHAPING IS HARD WORK

Driving to my daughter’s house yesterday, I was mindful that life will not be the same. Judah, the oldest of five is graduating from high school. I know, I know, it’s a rite of passage that we all must take. But there is a side of me that wants to hang on to things as they are. 

While I sit here at my computer, I know my daughter is bustling about getting ready for his big day. 

Posters with pictures showing how he has grown. His MVP basketball award, military books on WWII, aircraft and Winston Churchill.  A brown official leather bomber jacket he purchased years ago with his own money, photos of sea fishing, guitar playing and ribbons and pins he earned as a camp counselor, and of course, his Bible. 

I am proud of my grandson, and I am also proud of my daughter. She has done well. 

Of course, she did not do this alone, she has a wonderful husband. Together they built a beautiful home where Christ is the foundation and center for all they do. 

Home-building, parenting and soul-shaping work is hard work. 

Each child an eternal immortal being created by God given to us as parents to steward!!

The demanding infant years and toddler years where expectations are set, boundaries are established, love is nourished, and children learn there is safety in their home. 

The elementary years of adventure, play, friendships, good books and media that embrace the good and beautiful and reinforce truth. Day and nighttime stories that whet their appetites for the good and beautiful inculcating virtue as they playfully imagine themselves to be Robinhood, King Arthur or Robinson Cruesoe. 

Then the pre-teen and teen years of critical thinking and questioning. 

It takes a generous amount of perseverance, steadfastness, love and wisdom to guide them through these years continually holding before them truth, beauty and goodness and increased responsibility as they learn that choices have consequences.  How important that words spoken at the kitchen table also permeate the air that is breathed. 

Truth, order, beauty and goodness must be the rhythm of the home. The form must match the abstract. The walk must match the talk!

If I can borrow the words of King Solomon, this is what I have seen as I’ve observed life. That life is at its best when we enjoy the basics - one’s work, meals, marriage & family. 
Though families will vary in degrees, the more the order of the home lovingly matches what is taught, the more the values of parents are embraced and caught.

So, for those still in the trenches. Don’t give up. Persevere. Endure. This business of home-building, parenting and soul-shaping is hard work, but so rewarding!!!

You are not only shaping the souls of your dear children, but God is also shaping yours. 

PHOTO of my daughter and family…the day before the BIG day☺