When our children were small, my wife made the important decision to be a stay at home mom and invest in the lives of our children during the crucial years of their childhood. Only later, when they were of age, did she return to the workplace.
For my part, I completely supported her in that decision. To this day, the two of us like to think this simple step had a meaningful and lasting impact on the lives of each of our three children.
It has therefore come as no surprise to either of us that our daughter, supported by her husband, has now made a similar choice. She has decided to forgo her career for several years in order to stay at home and invest in the life of our young grandson (and any siblings that might one day be forthcoming).
Of course, this Sunday is Mother’s Day. An anonymous poem, available widely on the internet, is often cited this time of year. I do not know who the author is, but the message it contains perhaps best explains why we applaud our own daughter’s decision to sacrifice on behalf of the precious little child the Lord has now entrusted to her.
That poem reads as follows:
I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still
It moved and yielded at my will.
I came again when days were past,
The form I gave it still it bore,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
I could change that form no more.
I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.
I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon,
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.
Whether you, the reader, are a working mom or a stay at home mom – indeed, whether you are a mom or a dad, or a grandma or a grandpa, or an aunt or an uncle, or even an older sister or an older brother - this poem has value. We all help to mold the lives of the little ones whose paths we cross.
The Psalmist (Psalm 127, verse 3 NLT) put it this way, “Children are a gift from the LORD…” And of course, the same Bible (in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 28, BSB) reminds us that “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required…”
My wife and I were given much when we were entrusted with our three children. We tried to give much to our children in return. With the addition of their own child, our own daughter and son-in-law have now been given much as well. We support them in their decision to give much to their son in return.
May God bless them (and him) as they do!
SOURCES
POEM: Available widely on the world wide web. See, for instance, http://www.rayfowler.org/2009/05/08/a-piece-of-plastic-clay-a-poem-for-mothers-day/.
SCRIPTURES: http://biblehub.com/psalms/127-3.htm
and http://biblehub.com/luke/12-48.htm.
For my part, I completely supported her in that decision. To this day, the two of us like to think this simple step had a meaningful and lasting impact on the lives of each of our three children.
It has therefore come as no surprise to either of us that our daughter, supported by her husband, has now made a similar choice. She has decided to forgo her career for several years in order to stay at home and invest in the life of our young grandson (and any siblings that might one day be forthcoming).
Of course, this Sunday is Mother’s Day. An anonymous poem, available widely on the internet, is often cited this time of year. I do not know who the author is, but the message it contains perhaps best explains why we applaud our own daughter’s decision to sacrifice on behalf of the precious little child the Lord has now entrusted to her.
That poem reads as follows:
I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still
It moved and yielded at my will.
I came again when days were past,
The form I gave it still it bore,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
I could change that form no more.
I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.
I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon,
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.
Whether you, the reader, are a working mom or a stay at home mom – indeed, whether you are a mom or a dad, or a grandma or a grandpa, or an aunt or an uncle, or even an older sister or an older brother - this poem has value. We all help to mold the lives of the little ones whose paths we cross.
The Psalmist (Psalm 127, verse 3 NLT) put it this way, “Children are a gift from the LORD…” And of course, the same Bible (in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 28, BSB) reminds us that “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required…”
My wife and I were given much when we were entrusted with our three children. We tried to give much to our children in return. With the addition of their own child, our own daughter and son-in-law have now been given much as well. We support them in their decision to give much to their son in return.
May God bless them (and him) as they do!
SOURCES
POEM: Available widely on the world wide web. See, for instance, http://www.rayfowler.org/2009/05/08/a-piece-of-plastic-clay-a-poem-for-mothers-day/.
SCRIPTURES: http://biblehub.com/psalms/127-3.htm
and http://biblehub.com/luke/12-48.htm.