These are reflections from the
Internet Monk:
- When you have small children, you can simply never realize what it is going to be like to one day face them, as adults, with the realization that YOU have shaped them into the persons they will be for all of their lives. If we realized what it really means to create, nurture and shape another person in the deepest of human ways, we’d be frozen with fear. So much of what they are comes from us in ways that were unintended, or unknown or unplanned. Your children are truly a legacy of the kind of person you really are, and of how you’ve lived, how you’ve loved and what you’ve considered most important.
- Thankfully, our kids are more than what we make them to be.
In my more optimistic moments, I think I did the best I could do. But I know that's not really the case. There were many days when I was tired, disengaged, fed up, or a thousand other things that constituted a half-assed job of parenting. The wonder is that they appear to be turning out pretty well, and that the storms of adolescence are mostly past, and that, amazingly and delightfully, they are in the process of becoming fine young adults. This is the grace of God. I'm so thankful for my kids.
We do our best, hopefully, or at least intend to, and we don't deserve all the credit or all the blame, but perhaps a bit of both.
ReplyDeleteKatryn and Rachel are both delightful in their own unique ways.
I'm finding that grandparenting is a lot easier.
You have no idea how comforting this is to hear.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother is fond of saying that the best part of being a parent is getting to know your kids and grandkids as men and women. I think it works both ways - I'm 26 and have had a great time breaking down past roles and getting to know my parents more as who they are and less as Mom and Dad (which, of course, they'll always be).
ReplyDeleteThey're very pretty. They look healthy.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, you're blessed.