The Gift of My Children

I just stood in the kitchen window watching my daughter Sandy load her luggage in a friend's vehicle and prepare for the long trip back to the city where she lives and starts another semester of university. She was home for two weeks over the Christmas holidays and the time together was wonderful. My son Bill lives in town and we enjoy his company tremendously every time he drops in. My other daughter, husband and granddaughter are visiting his family in South Africa and their presence was greatly missed this year and I can hardly wait till they get back home safely and I can visit them.

I found myself suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of emotion as I watched the vehicle leave the driveway. Moments ago I hugged her and told her I loved her - whispered in her ear that she brings me great joy. And now I am full of sadness because she is leaving and also full of deep love for her and my other two grownup children.

Gosh,...the love one has for their children is indescribable. You think it reaches a plateau and it can never become deeper,especially when they become adults, but that is not the case, as I am finding out. It deepens with every year of their life, every experience, every circumstance, every season they go through.

I spent New Years Eve at a local establishment surrounded by so many friends, neighbours and family. My husband played in a band and I danced the old year out and the new year in to tunes of the 60's, 70's and 80's. What fun! What absolute joy! It's hard to get me off the dance floor once I get going....it's a freedom I never experienced until my mid 40's and I love every moment. There I am moving to the rhythm and beat of the music on the dance floor, opposite my daughter and my son who are just several feet away... we're laughing our heads off - they're not embarrassed by their mom out dancing with them - actually the range of ages covers a huge span of early 20's to over 60...the generation gap disappears on the dance floor.

It's a wonderful feeling of community being there together. My son takes my hand and begins to twirl me - and I'm just so darn bad at it (not enough experience I think!) and he laughs at me - I laugh at me - and it's all in such great humor that we attempt it again...

So,... it's with these fresh memories of last night that my emotions get stirred up as I see Sandy leave and head back to her home. I am so blessed. I love my children so much.

They are the greatest and the most loved gifts I have ever received from my Heavenly Father and nothing in this world is more important than my relationship with them. Like precious jewels, I tuck them carefully away in my heart, protecting them, nurturing them, loving them with a love that deepens and becomes more rich with every phone call, every conversation over coffee, every embrace, every tear, every prayer.

I could never thank you enough Father for who they are, who they will become and the gift they are to me.

Thank you.