Summer. Some of the best memories children remember are made during the nostalgic, hot, summers of their youth.
Last month when I had to cancel our trip to Colorado to go to Oklahoma,
I was so disappointed. Not for myself, I have been many times ..... but
for Sam. He was so looking forward to going, to seeing "real" mountains
and the top of Pikes Peak where America the Beautiful was written. I
felt like I had done him a disservice when our plans changed.
Now that we're home and have fallen back into our summer routine, it's
feels good to finally enjoy our time off. An unspoken ritual happens
every night, and this evening, I watched closely, this child I had been
feeling I had let down. I went outside after supper, to water the
garden, just like every night. Like clock work, Cowboy came hopping and
skipping not far behind, taking his usual, habitual path ..... first by
the blackberry bush for a little snack, a hop, hop, hop on top of the big
rocks, up the hill and to the strawberry patch that's conveniently
located right by the pond. After he hunts and picks the good
strawberries, he stripped down to his skivvies and into the pond he
jumped!
I smiled, to see such contentment and joy the simple
things of this life can bring. I am thankful for a child who can grow up
with them and appreciate them, knowing he helped put in the strawberry
patch he picks from, and the tomatoes and banana peppers he loves so
much, grow because he helped prepare the ground.
I started to
think of my own childhood summers, and as I went back, the memories were
not of summer vacations and youth camps, but my fondest memories were
swimming in that nasty water at Fulton Beach, riding my bike to get a
snow cone, running barefooted on the blacktop, desperately searching for
a patch of grass to land in and hoping it didn't have stickers. Those
are the memories that make me of think of home.
So tonight,
I've realized, I'm not doing that bad at all. Yes, I still want to take
Cowboy to Colorado, and there's a million other things I want to do with
him. But his memories will be the adventures we have right here, in our
own back yard. Hot, sticky nights, battling mosquitoes and critters, so
he can sleep with his pup in his tent, eating the fruits of his labor,
the pond where he truly learned to swim, splashing in the creek, and
running free on HIS mountain, with his faithful dogs. These are things
he will remember, these are the memories that will bring him home. And
isn't that what every parent wants?
On
the job training. It can apply to working at Whataburger or running a
government. On the job training is essential to real life experience and
knowing how to deal with and conduct yourself in every situation.
Train: Teach (a person or animal) a particular skill or type of
behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
When we see the above scripture, we always think of this in a spiritual
context (and rightly so) as if we train our children in the ways of the
Lord, although they may fall away for a time, they will return. Today
it occurred to me, that there are all sorts of training.
By our
words and actions, we train our children everyday. Training is not just
through instruction, but practice. We practice our morals, ethics, and
values in everything we do with our kids. Are we training our children
to be patient, because we are patient? Are we training our children to
respect authority because we've created boundaries and consequences for
crossing them and because WE respect those in authority over us? Are we
training our children to be forgiving because we are quick ask for it
ourselves, even if it means asking it of your child? Are we training our
children to love, because they see us love others and to be thankful because we show and express gratitude? Now think of the
opposite of everything I just mentioned, and imagine the harvest.
I
guess my point is, yes, if we train our children to sincerely love the
Lord, I believe God is true and faithful to His word, and they will come
back to Him. Would it not also be true of any life training we give our
children? If we train our children with impatience, disrespect,
discontent, bitterness, etc, will they not do as they've been trained
and follow this path? Will they have relationships, behaviors, and raise
their children in this way?
Giving them tools to live good and
right comes in the practical application of how they SEE us treat them,
others, and everyday situations.
This thought gave me a whole new perspective in Proverbs 22:6.
