The Power Of A Parent

I'm taking a little bit of a risk here, realizing that there is a good chance my parents will read this post. But not to worry, I won't be saying anything bad about them; it's just that they might find out how deeply I appreciate them. And that could be embarrassing.

Today is not Mother's Day or Father's Day or any special day, I just got to thinking about what my parents taught me. The things that came to mind weren't lessons that they necessarily meant to teach me, but ones that certainly were taught.

My father taught me the value of work. How many sons have said that over the centuries? I learned from watching my dad to enjoy working hard, in spite of all those frigid Saturday mornings I spent grumbling while helping to cut wood to heat the house. My dad was never very familiar with our couch. His hands could always find something to do, something to fix. To this day he's always busy, even on Saturdays. The thing is, he never seems too busy for people. I think that's what separates him from the workaholics.

Closely following the lesson of enjoying hard work is the lesson of how to enjoy a quick nap. My dad catnaps. In the middle of the afternoon or right after supper. This is a clever skill. Twenty minutes of unconsciousness in the afternoon makes the rest of the day a whole lot more productive.

I've also learned honesty from my father. I've learned to trust his estimation of people, and his honest appraisal of character. Closely tied to his honesty is his simple trust in God. Dad is no eloquent man of prayer, but I've never heard anyone pray so sincerely and trust so implicitly. He figures, "God is bigger than me, so He can handle it just fine." Business, health, life in general - God will take care of it.

I've learned that boys always need and love their moms, even when both are grown up and advanced in years. This was illustrated in a very real way recently, but that is another story.

My mom taught me how to be creative and artistic and stylish (or at least to appreciate creativity, art and style *smiling*). She has an eye for beauty and always showed it in the way she kept our home while I was growing up. She painted pictures, arranged flowers and cooked lovingly.

Many times I witnessed my Mom being thoughtful: sending a thank you, finding the perfect gift, remembering an important but perhaps obscure event in someone's life. She taught me how to value people's feelings.

There is another lesson I learned from her early on. And what I mean by early is early in the morning. I can't begin to count how many dark mornings I would stumble out to the kitchen and find my mom sitting in the living room in that certain chair, reading her Bible by the light of a solitary lamp. Quiet time. Mom never told me I should spend time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer, but she sure showed me how to do it.

The example of a parent is undeniably powerful. All of us with kids would do well to spend some time observing ourselves, and thinking about the lessons we're teaching that are not taught with words.