Recently, I had the privilege of reading the book, Always Faithful, by Major Tom Schueman and Zainullah Zaki, and shortly thereafter, watching the movie, A Father’s Legacy.  The themes of these two things intertwined like two vines of a tree reaching for the beautiful, blue sky and bright, warming sun.  Both spoke of a father’s love of his children and what he willingly sacrifices for their welfare and futures. A quote used at the end of the book resonated with my heart to its very core.  “None can give to another what he does not possess himself.  No generation can bequeath to its successor what it has not got…if we are skeptical, we shall teach only skepticism to our pupils, if fools only folly, if vulgar only vulgarity, if saints sanctity, if heroes heroism.”  (C.S. Lewis- God in the Dock)

As I was lucky to have two parents until I was twelve, many children today have only one, due to divorce, death, abandonment, or prison.  It is an honor to cherish our children and to teach them how to be caring and contributing American citizens, a task that has become all the more daunting as darkness continues to destroy God’s creation and His children.  As Margaret Mead believed, “We must teach our children how to think, not what to think.”  We are to give them the tools, the values, to sustain themselves in a competitive world, but once that responsibility is completed (and it may never be), they must move on into the world making their own decisions to hopefully better the world.  Our children are the greatest gift God has given us, as well as full responsibility for their souls.  Time is one of the most precious gifts we can offer them, as well as teaching them to have faith in God.  By our role modeling, their faith in us will grow.  It won’t matter how much money we have when we die; what will matter is how much we have loved our children and they understand what it takes to fully another person.

One of the biggest lessons my parents taught me was how to react when the rains come in my life.  In nature, rain washes off the impurities of the earth, nourishes the grasses, and waters our plants, but when the rain comes in torrents and floods, it can flood our yards and roads and wash away our houses.  To be ready for massive rains, we need to be calm and patient, stand firm on our core values, and place our faith in God, for He will make all things new.  We cannot hide from the storms of life, but we can trust that Jesus Christ will walk across the seas to bring our boats to the shore.  You see, I believe even when my boat’s bottom is duck-taped, He will always guide me to my destination.

I am, at times, lonely in my life, but I remind myself of this verse: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalm 18:2 KJV)  Another lesson I learned from my parents was that you have to own up to your mistakes because not to do so, makes your life and what you stand for meaningless.  We all make mistakes, but learning from them is what really makes our souls grow.  We also have to own who and what we really are and make every effort to correct behaviors and thoughts that may hurt others.  If you have ever skipped stones across a pond, you realize that the ripples flowing from where the stone hits move out continually from that place.  At the center of each ripple lies a decision that we must make. The ripples represent our behaviors, our decisions, that affect others and hopefully represent the direction(s) we need to move in.  From one skip of a stone flows many ripples that interact with many other ripples and a world of interconnection evolves.

I believe the greatest lessons we can teach our children are to be fair, to treat others with respect, to love those close to you, to forgive those who seek and need it, to always do what’s right even when it is the hardest thing to do, to trust in God, and to be proud of who they are and what they become.  When we make these things core values in our families, with two parents or one, everyone’s life becomes like a light to the world to help all who walk in God’s love and to battle the darkness that continually tries to destroy us.  Religions around the world have one basic tenet: “Believe in Me and I in you.  Do this and you will have everlasting life.”  God may be called by different names in different cultures, but He is the One and only true God.  Our faith is the most important gift we role model for our children because they will need that faith to teach their children and future generations the way, the light, and the truth.

Anna Hartt