Open Heart, No Fear

So, I have somehow misplaced my camera cord and am unable to post photos of our holiday.  For now I guess, I'll have to make do with words so I'll tell you about a great show we watched tonight.  It was an episode of Little House on the Prairie, our family night ritual.  Tonight's was my very favorite.  With Pa's blessing, Alfred goes to apprentice with an old, Jewish craftsman.  The man is disliked in the community for being a Jew and he is alone.  He is gentle and wise and teaches Albert much more than how to carve wood.  Albert grows to love him and finished the episode by completing their last project, the man's own coffin.

The older I get, the more I find that Truth is repeated over and over in nature, stories and the lives around us.  It's simple but sometimes hard to hear or accept.  One of the things my Mom told me after I crossed the line into adulthood was that during my most difficult growing up years, she prayed that I would encounter people in my life who would say to me what she would like to say but that I might not hear coming from her.  Looking back, I see how God answered that prayer through a special deacon at our church, a teacher who went the extra mile to show her confidence in me and my friend Roberta who later joined the daughters of St. Paul.  I think it is a rare child who blindly accepts what her parents tell her.  Questioning is a part of life and it is through those questions and the search for answers that we not only learn the Truth but love it enough to live and, if necessary, die for it.

As a mother, I know that Chris and I cannot be everything for our girls.  The most basic reason being that we are not guaranteed even one more day on this earth.  We have tried to surround them with other adults who will love them and act as guides or merely fellow travelers on the journey who will provide good answers to their questions.  And of course we have great faith in the protection of their guardian angels and God Himself who will not allow anything to happen to them that will not ultimately be for their good.

I sometimes find parenting to be a very scary thing.  Fear is not a good place to begin though so I fight to keep my heart open to others and to God's will in our lives.  Tonight's story was a great affirmation of what I believe to be true about most people--that they are trustworthy and have something valuable to teach us.