Tom Tate3/1/2017
"THAT'S A LONG WAYS TO LOVE SOMEBODY"
When our children were little we would get away on the weekends in our pop up camper, for this was the only way we could afford any trips. We so enjoyed these times with hiking, swimming, and campfires, especially the s-mores. After a long time of saving up, we took a trip to Disney World in Florida staying at their campground, which to us was a 5-star hotel.
It took two days to get there and two days to return home. There was a lot of stopping, a lot of singing, and a lot of playing games in the car to keep three children happy. All this was done without the assistance of electronics, because they weren't around then like they are now. Don't get me wrong I'm not totally against electronics, especially using my laptop now to do this blog. It was just not having them at that time in our lives was a blessing. I wouldn't trade that face to face time, the good and bad, for anything in the world. There was never a screen in front of anyone, unless you want to count the clouds during the day, the stars at night, or learning navigation by using an atlas.
There were so many highlights of that trip, but the one that stayed with me the most was the one after we had been home a couple of days. I was tucking our son, Damon into bed and telling him I love him, he looked at me and said, "I love you all the way to Florida and back and that's a long ways to love somebody." His loved for me was measured in how long it took to get to and back from Florida and that was a LOT. This would be the beginning of Damon discovering the unmeasurable love of God and hopefully, coming to understand it was this love of God that helped me when raising him and his siblings.
Being a parent is not a popularity contest and its hard. While raising our children, we must be the parent to them, not their friend. We make decisions that aren't popular and may have to go against the "everyone else is doing it" argument on more than one occasion. Sometimes it would be so easy to just give in but we know we can't.
One thing that I would tell my children when they were going through those "spreading our wings" years, which was not always well received, was that I had to answer to God on how I raised them. Believe me there were times I didn't want to be the mom especially with doors slamming, eyes rolling, huffing, puffing, questionable friends, just to name a few. I read several parenting books, talked with other moms, prayed, slammed doors, rolled my eyes, huffed, puffed, cried and laughed. More than anything I wanted for them was to follow God's teachings. I loved them too much not to make that my number one goal, even if that meant no Mother of the Year(s) award.
I came across a plaque one day when my children were little which I crossed stitched. It helped to put things into perspective during those troubling times.
I asked Jesus how much he loved me. He stretched out his arms and said,
this much...... then he died."
As parents, we need to strive to this kind of love that God has for us because it just like Damon's is a "long ways to love somebody."
Bible Reading:
Ephesians 3:17-19
2 Peter 3:9
Hebrews 12: 5-7
II Timothy 1:5, I Timothy 4: 6-13, & Acts 16:3
These scriptures give insight about a young man named Timothy who became a great follower of God. His knowledge of God came from his mother and grandmother as his father was a non-believer. I encourage you to take the time to read I Timothy and II Timothy to see how Paul takes Timothy under his wing to finding God's love, which I'm sure was a great help to his mother and grandmother.
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS:
Reach out a single parent or two parent home with only one who is a believer, male or female, to help physically, emotionally, but mostly spiritually.
Something to think about........
Family Past Family Present Family Future
©Melinda Sutherland 3/1/2017
