Sunday, December 7, 2014

a classic example...

... of being thankful for things that never happened occurred yesterday.  I heard a sad story, with details of a young man who managed to somehow turn his life of bounty into a train wreck. Making me continually, once again and forever, thankful for daughters who have turned into remarkable adults. Fully functioning productive members of society, who do good, and work hard.

If this sounds like I might be edging towards quoting a verse, what you are likely trying to remember is: Micah 6:8. Where it starts with a question about God's heart and his desires for us foolish mortals. And ends with...'only to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God'. Kinda like trying to live out the Golden Rule which is easy to say and not nearly as simple to put into daily practice. But if everyone of us here on this planet were to make that effort every day, what a profoundly different place it would be.

The story that leads me to this appreciation for who my adult children have become is about a young man who is actually about the age of daughters. This guy has been so blessed in his life, but seems to have made a series of bad decisions when he came to one of the many forks in the road. Has a sweet wife, and little baby, and a compassionate, close-knit extended family. But he has made some sizable, serious blunders in recent weeks and months. Culminating, as you might expect at this point, with being incarcerated. And will likely be there for a long time, with plenty of opportunity to practice the fine art of 20-20 hindsight.

All this makes me so grateful for choices, both made and unmade. And so thankful for these people I birthed and spent many years with, hoping to instill enough wisdom in their youth to see them through lots of tough decisions they would face as adults. It is with much gratitude that I think of them as having turned out beautifully - especially on the inside, where it matters most.

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