I saw this headline from People Magazine a few days ago: "Billy Ray Cyrus says he could have been a better dad." Duh! Couldn't we all have been better parents?
My kids, Josh and Betsy, are learning the lessons of marriage--the same ones we all do when we choose to tie the knot. As I look back, I pray that they weren't massively maimed by my ineptitude. After all, I was learning about life as my kids were growing up. When Brenda and I made the decision to build a career in music, there were so many things we couldn't do financially at the time, like owning our own home, buying things on a whim and taking "real" vacations. What I'm saying is, we were poor. For many years we lived in less-than-stellar rental housing, hoping that our one-and-only high-mileage car wouldn't give up the ghost too soon. I know my frustration with the lack of money was palpable. Some days we had more money buried in the sofa than was in the bank. Brenda even saved soap slivers in case we ran out and didn't have the cash to by a new bar. We was poor, I'm tellin' ya! Eventually, things greatly improved as my songs were recorded and the royalties made up for the lean times.
I ran into a lady around my age at church a few weeks ago. She was heading down to the nursery to pick up one of her grand children. As she was extolling the greatness of being a grandparent, I asked her what she liked best about her new role as a grandma. She said it was wonderful having money this time around. She told our story when she explained that as her kids were small, she was so caught up in making ends meet that many precious moments were lost to daily survival. Nowadays she can take the grand kids for the afternoon, buy them clothes and toys, and then hand them back to mom to suffer the brunt of bath time and supper. AMEN!
I believe the environment we build in our homes for our kids growing up will either create problems for them in the future or will be a solid foundation that will serve them well now and for generations to come. Even as we marry, have kids, and try to figure out how to make a living, we must be aware that our children turn into us when they grow up. They make decisions (or not) based on the experiences they had in the home. If we do everything for them, and clean up after their mistakes, they will never acquire the living skills to survive in a hostile world. Thank God for His grace! Without two sets of wonderful parents teaching Brenda and I the ropes of life, along with their solid marriages, we might have inflicted more injury to our kids and each other as a young family.
I appreciate Billy Ray Cyrus' honesty. At least he is attempting to keep his family together. I am seeing in my newlywed children that, as Proverbs 22:6 states, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." I'm banking on that!
No comments:
Post a Comment