Wishes for My Children

Yesterday, the president of HPU, in his talk to the parents, made many comments I liked as well as many that made me say, "Hmmm..." I've been thinking about things he said, and I'm going to have to think some more on a few points.

President Qubein made an object lesson out of a bag of Hershey's Kisses and a box of Godiva chocolates.

He discussed how each is made and their costs. Talked about how we wives would feel if our hubby brought us a mug of kisses wrapped up in a dollar bag (called that cheap) and joked about how our hubby would be in trouble... :) Compared to how we would feel if he brought us a box of Godivas. Visualized how the box of chocolates are hand-made by a chocolatier in white coat and gloves... The cost? The bag of Hershey's kisses, what about maybe $4 or $5 & the box of chocolates (I checked this morning) over $40. He was making the point that we want the best for our children. A public education is a Hershey's bag of chocolate, and HPU is the Godiva chocolates. The speech was a good speech, and I'm oversimplifying it a great deal. But that was the basic point.

Now let me say, President Qubein is certainly an excellent speaker, and his life is very inspirational to say the least. I am sure that HPU is an excellent school; and I definitely enjoyed listening to him speak.

I should also say that my viewpoint is definitely slanted; see I'm a Hershey's Kisses kind of gal. I went to public schools my whole life, attended a public state college, worked in public schools 11 of the 15 years I've been teaching... I'm not putting myself down here, but I am saying my viewpoint is not against the "Kisses" kind of chocolate. I've never even had a fancy chocolate like a Godiva. I'm sure they're wonderfully delicious, but I don't feel deprived because I have never tasted something so wonderful. On the contrary, my life is richer for having known and worked with a whole lot of "normal" people from the "kisses" side of life. I don't think having something so wonderfully rich and decadent could make up for the lessons I've learned along the way or the people who have touched my life and hopefully whose lives I have touched.

President Qubein talked about how we are all alike; we all want the best for our children. We all want our children to have it better than we did. I had to stop and think for a minute there. What is it I wish for my children? A better life than I had? What from my life would I like them to improve on? Do I really wish that? I think this good desire comes from generations of families who had to toil and work hard for what they had, which often wasn't much.

I am all for having a good life; Rob & I have gone hungry, have had to live with family because we had nowhere to go, have faced financial disasters, have seen repossesion and collection agencies, and known the shame of taking help in many forms. God has been taking care of us though through all that!!!!!! Rob & I just bought our first home, we drive two nice cars which we just purchased in the last year or two... I don't want to go back to those hard days, EVER! But really are these the things I wish for my children? Should they be? Am I just crazy for sitting there in that auditorium and saying, "I don't wish that for my daughter or my sons."?

So what is it I do wish for my children? Certainly I wish and hope and pray that they won't make the financial mistakes Rob & I made. I hope they will have it easier financially than we did and that their choices and decisions will be wise and God-chosen when it comes to the big things in life- who they will date & marry, the jobs they will choose, where they will live, and how they will raise their children. I have always hoped they would never know death in the way my sister & I did- up close, personal, and ugly. I have always hoped and tried to protect them from family hurts that we have known.

Outside of those things, though, I have had a wonderful, rich life- a life I am very content in. Really, taking stock of what I have- I have a family that loves me. I have a momma who has supported me in everything and loved me no matter what stupid things I did or said. I had a daddy who loved me. I have a pop who loved me so much he chose to make me his daughter even when he didn't have to; he has loved me every day since and loved my hubby as his own son and my children as his own grandchildren. He has been the father he didn't have to be. I have a husband who has stood by me for over 20 years now. He has been my best friend, my love, my confidant. He helped me through college; he was there for 3 births, and only God knows how many difficult and joyous moments along the way. He has never left me even when times got tough. I have three children, three wonderful almost grown young people who love me and do show it in so many ways. I have the love of so many students, and the privilege of working with families and have done so in three states for 15 years this week.

Above all these things, I have a heavenly Father who has loved me since before time began. I have his unending mercy & forgiveness. I have His steadfast support and help in times of need, and His warm smile shines down on me from time to time to remind me that I'm right where I ought to be doing just what I ought to be.

I don't wish for my children to have a life filled with everything rich and wonderful and terrific. What do I wish for? Well first off, I don't wish- I pray.

• I pray for my children that they will serve God every single day they draw a breath, that they will marry Godly people, and will raise their children to love God and serve Him only.
• I pray that they will make wiser choices than their parents did.
• I pray that they will learn the important lessons in life that will make them better people, better husbands & wife, and better parents.
• I pray that God will be with them always and keep them in His hand and on His path.
• I pray that no matter what hard times come their way (because I believe even the wealthy have hard times, maybe not $ issues, but other just as serious issues), they will always seek Him. And when these times come, that they will pass as quickly as possible, but that my children will learn from them and become better, stronger people.
• I pray that my children will minister to others in need and won't forget "the least of these," (the lowly hershey's kisses kind of people).

I don't pray that my kids have it better than me. I pray that they become a better person than I am through whatever means God chooses to make it happen, and that they will NEVER, not even one day, stop serving Him.