Parenting - the ongoing saga....

You know, this afternoon I was changing the oil and filter in my son's car and rotating the tires and I was thinking about how much I love my son and how important it is to me to be sure his car is operating safely. The same is true of my daughter's car. I try to keep up with them all but with 4 cars in the family, it can get challenging.

Still, I was thinking about how when he was little, I used to do a lot of things for my son. Now he can do most anything on his own. However, there are still some things I can help him with such as maintenance on his car. Yeah, he's working and yeah, he could take it to an oil change place but I know those guys work fast and sometimes too fast. On the other hand, I'm slow and careful. I can't help him avoid all the pitfalls (or potholes) in life but I do what I can and although our dynamic has changed since he was 5 years old, I still care about him the same and it's important to me to be able to "let go" gracefully for his sake but also continue to add value where I can.

It's an interesting thing raising kids. If you are fortunate enough that all your children are living while you are, I strongly suspect you never really outgrow the parenting bizz. Even after your kids are old enough to have their own kids, I'm sure you shift your focus to the grandkids and you help your kids learn how to be parents.

What a great and incredible blessing God has given us in providing us with children. They can wear you out and make you spend your last resource on them - and yet, they are such an incredible blessing from the Lord. The give us purpose and meaning to our lives and in as much as we make every effort to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, they can be a great blessing and heritage for us.

So, I thank God again for my children and I thank Him for my ability to do a few simple things for them like simple maintenance on their cars when needed and a computer touch-up here and there.

Sheila will be my life-long and loving most close companion and I guess I always thought our children would grow to adult-hood and then move on to their own lives. I guess that could still happen but regardless of where they live, I sense they will still be my children and they will still need me and I will need them so long as the Good Lord graciously grants us both the breath of life.

My wish for you too is to share love in your family. What a great blessing indeed!

Kind wishes,

JR