Both my parents are in their early 80’s. My sweet mother lost her father when she was only 5 years old. My precious father was shining shoes for the sailors to help support his family when he was only 6 years old. Both have lived rich full lives. Both have experienced hardships as families living through the Depression era. My father comes from a family of 3 children, my mother is one of eight children. Between the two of them, I have 11 sets of aunts and uncles and only 1 pair of those has experienced divorce. That couple had been together for more than 30 years and it was with great sadness and many tears which brought them to irreconcilable differences. 1 out of 11 couples. Those are very different odds from what we know today as a society and a culture. By today’s standards 9 out of 11 would know the pains of divorce. It was a different time back then…today we live in an instant gratification, microwave society.
Back then, work ended by 5pm. We didn’t have cell phones for each member of the family to be distracted and fixated by. We all sat at the dinner table eating a home cooked meal together. As my father loved to say, “Get up and serve yourself cause this ain’t Luby’s!”. It seemed there was always plenty of food to go around and more than that always plenty of love that put those meals together. After dinner we watched tv as a family on one of the 3 channels available while mom or dad helped us with our homework. We interacted together. We talked and we laughed. We were family.
Today, it’s a struggle to find the richness of a solid foundation. Reflecting on this today really stirred my heart. This picture is through my eyes. What if I asked my 22 year old what life growing up looked like through his eyes. What does life look like for my parents at 83 through their eyes? The question begs for understanding as there are so many perspectives. For my son, growing up with the internet and having a cell phone attached to him from a young age is completely different for my parents who saw the invention of tv and the evolution of computers. For Jake, texting is the norm. For my parents, if they don’t learn how or can’t they risk having limited communication and touches with their family.
This got me to thinking, when we look at the biblical model of community, it was inter-generational. It was about passing strengths and skills on to one another. It was capturing the heart of Deuteronomy 8, “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up…” More importantly, it goes on to say, “Beware lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth,” You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
For me personally, this is what I must never ever forget. It is what bound together a family through thick and thin. It is what my grandmother taught her 8 children and what my father’s family understood in their hearts. My journey, my flesh, my, mine and me are what took my eye off the ball for the sustainability they knew. I did exactly what we are warned against in the second part of Deuteronomy 8. Gratefully, we serve a God who doesn’t give up on us. A Father who believes in us more than we can believe in ourselves sometimes. As I looked back through my eyes, thankfully He shows me who I am through His eyes. In His eyes I am capable. In His eyes I am equipped. In His eyes I exist because He created me. In His eyes I am able to create a rich foundation for my son to build upon for his future and God’s glory.
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