June 2008

Learning About Life

We want to protect the ones we love. Our mate, our children, our friends. It doesn't always work that way. Part of life is pain, for them and for us.

In order to teach our children to love, we are forced to expose them to them to the world. We encourage them to learn new things, to make friends, to...live. Knowledge is power but that knowledge comes with a price. The price is innocence lost. They must learn that not everyone is what they appear to be and that not everyone means it when they say they are your friend. The joy of friendship is often mixed up with betrayal, deceit, and immaturity, and yet there is still the joy and the love. We pray that for every friend that proves untrue there is another who proves that friendship and love are worth the investment. As parents, we pray that even if the pain remains as a memory it does not leave a scar.

Our goal is to teach our children to love. To come to the understanding that it is worth it. Even when it hurts, even when we are rejected, even when it doesn't seem worth the effort to try. We must teach them that God loved us so we ought to love each other, not just when we're nice, not just when we're pretty, not just when we are powerful or popular, but when we are bumpy and grumpy and awkward, too.

But still, we protect those we love. We teach them to love but not to be abused, not be used, not to be a doormat. We teach them to make the effort but to know when to walk away. We give them the knowledge of self-worth and the confidence of knowing they are loved. And we hurt with them and for them and love them...always.