All This from a Cellophane Bag

Today was one of those days. You know, where a lot of bad things and a lot of good things happen and you're not quite sure how to label it as a whole...

Well tonight, I choose to focus on the good. But not before I explain the bad! We threw $50 out the window. I mean that literally. More like off the top of the car. Regardless. I also called Blockbuster to inform them that I had lost their DVD, got charged an additional $30, found it two minutes later (after a week of searching), only to be told it was too late, and that I already owned it...

Honesty...the best policy, aye?

Moving on.

Our schooling day was interrupted when my husband walked through the door with not one, but TWO bouquets. This is not abnormal for him. He cant pass the flowers without getting some for both of his girls. He wants to make sure his sweet little princess knows how to be treated one day.

 I just love how she lit up this time though. She grabbed his hand and took him to my vase cupboard and they sat there for a couple of minutes picking the perfect vases for each bouquet. She carried them over to me to have me cut the stems at the sink, and then picked the best spot in the house to display them. She walks up to them every few minutes now and grabs each jar (as my heart stops) off of the table and smells them, talks about how daddy got them for her (and me, but who cares, right?), and goes on and on. That had me thinking - what an honor to not only be responsible for two little hearts, but also for the hearts of two that we do not yet know - their spouses.

Our pastor spoke two weeks ago about how important it is to show passion between parents. And to clarify, I don't mean that you need to grab your husband and kiss him every time a child walks into the room! What I mean is this: express love toward your husbands and wives, so that it's not a foreign concept to our children, and so that they are taught by us what a loving relationship looks like, not by peers. Actually, our pastor gave three examples of what happens when we "hide" from our kids:

1. We get "Victorian" which leads to point 2
2. It becomes defiled (since nobody embraces it, the world does) Did you know that adult bookstores outpace McDonald's 3 to1? Now that leads to point 3
3. Perversion - the world has taken a purity meant for marriage, distorted it, and created a generation of people with skewed desires - 25% of all girls become victims of abuse.

I may have drifted off point slightly, but it seemed like an appropriate time.

My kids. Right...

We were talking this morning about Titus chapter two, how it gives clear instructions to be examples to young men and women in all that we do. In my opinion, my children are never too young to be considered heirs to the throne. What we say to them and model for them reflects on us as parents, sure. But more importantly, it affects their habits, thoughts, and adult decisions. For the first time in my life, I prayed for their spouses tonight. I prayed that nothing would happen to them to taint their love for Christ. That they are being raised to honor my kids now, even before they know them. That their parents understand the weight of their role in MY kids lives, and that my husband and I consider them in all that we do when raising our children to marry them one day.

Lord, in the blink of an eye, these two bouquets will be one. Reach the hearts now of the man and woman who will pick up where Mommy and Daddy leave off.