I sat as a single person in the masses of grieving friends and family at a funeral yesterday. I listened as seven incredible children stood and spoke lovingly of their father who passed on at a much too early age. Each speaker reminded me to be present with my children, to live as an example to which I'd hope they would grow to live. Service, thoughtfulness, generosity, humor, hard work and the ability to enjoy daily life, all attributes the children learned from their father.
With three kids, my youngest of which happens to be a little bitter at the world and is in a constant state of discontent and irritability... it's hard to always be a shining example of patience and time well spent. But yesterday I remembered the importance of spending the time to tuck my children into bed instead of rushing out of their room to catch the latest episode of some ridiculous prime time show. I'm trying better to be prepared with a fun activity for them when they wake from naps, instead of being bothered that they are awake only to make a mess of the house after my nap time cleaning regimen. My kids will only learn to love life if I'm willing to live it along side of them and show them the parts I love. Simple time during each day is the best gift I can give them. Time to play, create, learn, explore... time to play in the shower instead of the same old bath routine every evening. Time to go crazy and pour water all over yourself while playing in the sandbox... or time to go outside and dance in the rain. Teaching them that the best part of cooking is licking the bowl... just be present in whatever moment you're in and take the chance to BE with your family.
A special thanks to Steve Barlow and his wonderful legacy for reminding me of the important things in life. May the Lord bless his sweet family in this hard time of loss.
1 comments:
Thanks for sharing, Shanny. I too have been inspired by the example of Steve Barlow and his family. One of my favorite lessons learned from him is the fact that he made each of his 7 children feel as if they were his 'favorite' child. Another big one is the fact that he publicly let everyone around him know how much he adored his awesome wife, Marcy. An additional legacy we can learn from Steve and Marcy is to accept all of our chlldren, whether or not they agree with us where religion, politics, or anything else like that is concerned. His son, Brett stated it best when he thanked his parents for wrapping their loving arms around his rectangle self and make him a part of the circle that is their family.
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