"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it."

                                                                                                        Proverbs 22:6

I received this story many years ago. It’s about a lady named Clara Null and it still makes me smile every time I read it.

“It was one of the worst days of my life:  the washing machine broke down, the telephone kept ringing, my head ached, and the mail carrier brought a bill I had no money to pay. Almost to the breaking point, I lifted my one-year-old son into his highchair, leaned my head against the tray, and began to cry.

Without a word my son took his pacifier out of his mouth and stuck it in mine.”

Children really do live what they learn.  But more than from words, they learn from our actions.   “Teach your children well”, the song says.  Show compassion, not only with your words, but with the way you say and live those words.

When this is done, one day you will realize there is no better compliment than to hear, “You are definitely your father’s child,” and know that they are speaking of your heavenly father in the comparison. 

"Father, Thank you for the lessons of life.  Help us to learn them, and then live them.  In Jesus' name, AMEN."

Grace, Rev. Dan