I’m a tad late in my regular twice-weekly blog post - but not without good excuse. Let’s just say I was out doing some “field research”. You see, my wife and I have spent the last few days at the lake with our children and grandsons.
After several days with my grandsons, all I can say is “Thank God for kids!” Perhaps you remember the hit song by the same name as released by the Oak Ridge Boys back in the day. The lyrics are as follows…
If it weren't for kids have you ever thought
There wouldn't be no Santa Claus
Or look what the stork just brought
Thank God for kids.
We'd all live in a quiet house
Without Big Bird or a Mickey Mouse
And Kool Aid on the couch
Thank God for kids.
Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile.
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child?
Daddy, how does this thing fly?
And a hundred other wheres and whys
I really don't know but I try
Thank God for kids.
When I look down in those trusting eyes
That look to me I realize
There's love that I can't buy
Thank God for kids.
Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile.
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child?
These words were brought home to me again and again as I experienced the joy of witnessing my grandsons experiencing many of the wonders of life for the very first time. Such firsts included…
playing and splashing in the water, jumping off a dock, baiting a hook, reeling in a fish, riding in a boat, being pulled on a tube, chasing bubbles across the yard (from a bubble-making wand), catching fireflies, grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, eating ice cream sandwiches, making “s’mores” over a camp fire, playing putt putt, going on a hike and finding footprints that may or may not have been from either “bigfoot” or “T-Rex”, and several other such activities that little boys find immensely fascinating!
This week will surely live on as a memorable experience in the minds of my grandsons. Who among us can forget experiencing such things for the very first time? And yet, in the short term, these experiences may well be more meaningful to me than to them.
“In what way?” you might ask. To which, the first answer I would give is: “In the sense that the many firsts they experienced served to remind me of many such firsts in my own life!”
After all, who among us cannot help but reminded through the experiences of our children and grandchildren of the very experiences that we ourselves once underwent?!
And as this remembrance came to me, so did a realization; for just as my forebears provided such opportunities for me, even so am I now responsible to provide these very opportunities for my descendants.
But I would offer a second answer as well. And that is that the innocence of childhood begs not only an acknowledgment of their initial experiences in life, but also an acknowledgment of their ongoing experiences - as well as the ultimate outcome of those experiences.
And that is why the last verse of this song has been on my mind more than anything else…
“When you get down on your knees tonight
And thank the Lord for His guiding light
Pray they turn out right.
Thank God for kids.
Mmm, Thank God for kids.”
Above all else, therefore, I pray that each and every one of my grandsons “turns out right”. As I do, I also pledge to do all I can to support their parents (my children) in order to see that this actually comes to pass.
If it does, then I’ll have all the more reason to say: “Thank God for kids!”
SONG LYRICS SOURCE:
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/oakridgeboys/thankgodforkids.html.
After several days with my grandsons, all I can say is “Thank God for kids!” Perhaps you remember the hit song by the same name as released by the Oak Ridge Boys back in the day. The lyrics are as follows…
If it weren't for kids have you ever thought
There wouldn't be no Santa Claus
Or look what the stork just brought
Thank God for kids.
We'd all live in a quiet house
Without Big Bird or a Mickey Mouse
And Kool Aid on the couch
Thank God for kids.
Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile.
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child?
Daddy, how does this thing fly?
And a hundred other wheres and whys
I really don't know but I try
Thank God for kids.
When I look down in those trusting eyes
That look to me I realize
There's love that I can't buy
Thank God for kids.
Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile.
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child?
These words were brought home to me again and again as I experienced the joy of witnessing my grandsons experiencing many of the wonders of life for the very first time. Such firsts included…
playing and splashing in the water, jumping off a dock, baiting a hook, reeling in a fish, riding in a boat, being pulled on a tube, chasing bubbles across the yard (from a bubble-making wand), catching fireflies, grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, eating ice cream sandwiches, making “s’mores” over a camp fire, playing putt putt, going on a hike and finding footprints that may or may not have been from either “bigfoot” or “T-Rex”, and several other such activities that little boys find immensely fascinating!
This week will surely live on as a memorable experience in the minds of my grandsons. Who among us can forget experiencing such things for the very first time? And yet, in the short term, these experiences may well be more meaningful to me than to them.
“In what way?” you might ask. To which, the first answer I would give is: “In the sense that the many firsts they experienced served to remind me of many such firsts in my own life!”
After all, who among us cannot help but reminded through the experiences of our children and grandchildren of the very experiences that we ourselves once underwent?!
And as this remembrance came to me, so did a realization; for just as my forebears provided such opportunities for me, even so am I now responsible to provide these very opportunities for my descendants.
But I would offer a second answer as well. And that is that the innocence of childhood begs not only an acknowledgment of their initial experiences in life, but also an acknowledgment of their ongoing experiences - as well as the ultimate outcome of those experiences.
And that is why the last verse of this song has been on my mind more than anything else…
“When you get down on your knees tonight
And thank the Lord for His guiding light
Pray they turn out right.
Thank God for kids.
Mmm, Thank God for kids.”
Above all else, therefore, I pray that each and every one of my grandsons “turns out right”. As I do, I also pledge to do all I can to support their parents (my children) in order to see that this actually comes to pass.
If it does, then I’ll have all the more reason to say: “Thank God for kids!”
SONG LYRICS SOURCE:
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/oakridgeboys/thankgodforkids.html.