Weekend Wanderings

Sunny Saturday. Saturdays, with habits hard to break, are for cleaning, for renewal. We stayed in bed a little late today but awoke to solid daylight showing a new skiff of snow. Sunshine highlights, a machine to clear the snow, helped along by the shovel. Garbage deleted from the house, bathrooms sparkling, kitchen busy with ideas for meals. I love days like this! Sitting here with some Beethoven in quiet contemplation through new speakers, I take the opportunity to meander through the thoughts I have to share today.
My family makes me so proud- in a very humbling kind of way! My adult children are living successful lives, each in a satisfying place or moving toward personal satisfaction through schooling or work. I didn't think much about that when we were raising our kids. We thought about values and chose ones that were important to us, to raise our children by. We chose friends who supported those choices. So much of our time was spent in solidifying those choices, driving those values deep into the hearts of our children and those they walked with. But the one thing I know, we can't decide for our adults which of those values will hold dear for them and which will not. Each of them will make their own adult choices, make their own choices for lifelong enjoyment or consequence. We as parents can stand beside them as they make their way, but our work is done long ago when it comes to enforcing or imposing our choices on them. With that in mind, I have to say, we have some amazing adult children! Am I thrilled with all of their choices? Not necessarily, but I know they each have the inner strength to live with their choices or to make changes where they need to.
Today, I am grateful for the one who is a parent already. She shows such strength and courage in her daily commitment to be the best parent she can be. Her son is proof of that- he is a lovely child, one who is obedient and loving to his momma, one who keeps us entertained and amused each day. One thing I know, those values grown deep within her heart will give her the courage it takes to walk through each and every obstacle she finds with success. She will make choices based on what is best for her child first because that is what good parents do. Every day I marvel at how good a mother she is- and before someone says it is because she had a good role model, which many do, I want to note that she makes choices I never considered. She is gentle and able to have her son agree to do the things she asks, rather than pushing him to bend only to her will. She teaches him how to make good choices every day, teaches him that life is fun and family is most important. We have the blessing of his living with us in our home and each day I take time to be grateful for the moments we have with him, knowing this will not always be the way. My heart's desire is to be very involved in my grandchildren's lives, the way our grandparents were in ours. I have contemplated what this may take over the next number of years. We have a responsibility to our grandchildren to delight in each of them, to love them unconditionally and to take joy in their individual achievements. I know in my heart the best way to do just that is to KNOW them! To do that, we may have to make some changes in our lives- but those will prove so valuable! I take this responsibility seriously, to build the relationships we have in our lives, to make choices to support those choices and to make them of first importance to us.
My weekend wanderings will take me through my household. Cleaning and re-organizing, taking care of my children and their interests. Praying for each of them, building up and supporting them. We will go to church, commit to the Lord all that He lays on our hearts. Worship together builds my spirit in a way like nothing else does. What will you do to build your spirit this weekend? Where will you wanderings take you?