Beyond Bringing Up Boys

Daivd is a wonderful poet. This one still takes my breath away although he gave it to me in October. Oh, if only I could pen the words that get trapped in my heart! My Dear Amy, The day I married you in June I pledged my troth, and you pledged you. And when we breathed the shy "I do," I signed a check; you signed it too. I wrote my name as guarantor; You as recipient. Within that moment sacrosanct I signed a check (the value blank) Before the ink had scarcely dried We two became one flesh. I left the value blank that day Not knowing how to estimate The price of love, the revenue That buys an "I love you." Fifteen Junes have come since then And even now I blush to pen These faulty lines acknowledging My ignorance of love. For when we wed I only saw The price of love: forsaking all. How could I know that when I signed You’d hang your Rembrandt on the wall Not in a dark, secluded vault To dim and to decay? How could I know at dinner time You’d always serve the vintage...

  But this was not the day. Last week, the roofing team, who were Hispanic, were outside in back of our house cleaning up some shingles. Seth was kneeling by the open window watching. Since he was occupied I began some neglected chores. Until I heard him shouting: “Hey! What are you doing to my house?” “HEY! GET LOST!” I ran to the window and explained to Seth that they were helping us and he should say, “Gracias.” Oh, he did. “GRACIAS! GET LOST! GRACIAS! GET LOST!” The workers smiled broadly and although they didn’t speak English, I’m certain that they didn’t think that he was saying, “GRACIAS! GOOD JOB!”

Although, we use the NIV regularly in our home and with our children for memorization, David and I still find the language of the KJV to be superior in beauty. "Hitherto" is one of those words. "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (I Sam 7:12), or translated in the NIV "Thus far the LORD helped us." Gaining perspective by looking at the past in my Christian journey is a great source of strength for me. And while I really like the meaning of the word 'hitherto," -- "until this time" -- I like what C.H. Spurgeon has to say: "The word also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark, and writes hitherto, he is not yet at the end; there are still more distances to be traversed." David and I took a class several years ago on Christian parenting. The instructor recommended that each family make a shadow box for remembrances of events/circumstances in each home where each glance was a reminder of God's help. David and I...