Moments of Clarity

 

We were made for connection—connection with God and with people we love and who love us. This is why God created marriage and family. Being surrounded by family gives us the emotional energy to live life with purpose and meaning. It also allows us to have mutually gratifying relationships that enrich our lives.

This past month I had a birthday, and my family celebrated the occasion with me. After a great meal (Argentine stakes) together, we sat down, and I read all their cards out loud. What a moment of clarity! My wife and kids, and grandkids shared some of their most beautiful moving words with me. After reading the cards, I looked around the room and saw all those beautiful faces (five of which are in California) but there in spirit, and I realized how lucky I am. God has blessed my life most remarkably.

I realized that I have what some people try to find their entire lives—that connection to the people who mean the most to you. It has been there for a long time—the respect of my wife, my daughter, and my two sons and daughters-in-law and a son-in-law and now seven grandchildren. The connection to these loved ones is so rewarding. It has taken nearly half a century to grow this family, but now the fruits are so enjoyable. Since I see dozens of couples and families regularly in counseling trying to work on their connection, I know how valuable connection is. Though I do everything I can to help, some never achieve it. My fortune of having this family is purely by God’s grace.

I look at these people (my family) that occupy such an essential part of my heart, and I say to myself, “How fortunate you are. My heart is full of gratitude to God for what he has given me. At the same time, I realize what a great responsibility I have to set an example of what it means to be a good man who loves God and loves his family.

I have said on occasions that the greatest compliment that will ever be said to me after I am gone from this earth will be, “He was a man who loved God and loved his family.” That, for me, is a moment of clarity. No matter how great the accomplishments or how large the acquisitions, they don’t mean anything if you don’t have the love and respect of your family.

 (Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/