On Life at Home

Goodwill – a place to find a variety
of great deals and good conversation;
if you’re willing to take
the time. I had the time, just a
few days ago, to stop and talk to
an employee while my husband
and son were trying on some
clothes.
She was organizing some
clothes on a rack when she made
a comment about clothing to my
son. He responded with a clever
quip (as is his typical style) and
went off to try on some shorts.
She laughed and started talking
to me as I looked through what
was nearby. She took it rather
well – my son’s quirky, on-themark
sense of humor. So, I told
her how I try to encourage him to
speak his mind – as long as he
does it respectfully, that is.
She gave me this knowing
agreement. Aged far beyond her
years, you could see the experience
in her eyes. She began to
talk about her life and how she
wished someone had taught her
that when she was young.
“No one bothered to show me,
when I was four, that it was ok to
stand up for myself. No one took
the time. It took $400, in assertive
classes, to teach me how to
say “Hey, don’t do that.””
I had to wonder what made her
choose the age of four. What was
so significant at that time in her
life that made her wish someone
had taught her how to say something…
how to draw a boundary
and stand her ground?
I will never know the history
behind the age she chose; but
those years were worn in the
weary lines of her face. She
smiled; but you could tell she
was tired. Life had not been
good to her… and she summed
it up in those few short words.
“If only someone had taught me
when I was young…”
It leaves an impression when
you see someone worn down
by a life more than half gone.
It makes you stop and take a
closer look at your own. Am I
living a life that will end full of
regrets? It makes you take a
closer look at the lives of your
children. Will they be the ones
saying “If only someone had
taken the time to teach me…”?
A sobering thought, wrapped up
in a conversation that lasted a
whole of maybe five minutes.
How would her life have been different
if someone had taken the
time to be there for her? How did
the loss of those formative years
effect the direction of her future?
Sadly, we see this woman in the
lives of far too many people in
our society today. And I, for one,
do not want my children to be
one of them. God has entrusted
me with His most precious creation;
and to take that lightly is
to squander the opportunity, I
have been given, to make a difference.
They say children don’t come
with an instruction manual; but
I beg to differ. As Christians, we
have the best instruction manual
ever written - the Word of God
- to help us navigate the complexities
of this undeniably indispensable
calling.
In this ever-changing, increasingly-divided
world, there are
many people that would like to
get their hands into the lives of
our children. From movies, TV
shows, schools and groups; to
billboards, magazines, music
and books – everyone wants to
influence the next generation to
go in THEIR direction. Without
someone there to guide them,
our children will go whichever
direction those societal winds
blow them.
“(Christ gave us what we needed
to be equipped) so that we may
no longer be children, tossed to
and fro by the waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine,
by human cunning, by craftiness
in deceitful schemes. Rather,
speaking the truth in love, we
are to grow up in every way into
him who is the head, into Christ.”
~Ephesians 4:14-15