Nurturing 101

A special gift: 2016 calendar from my daughters with photos of our sweet grandkids!

The amazing, incredible gift of Family ...

It is easy sometimes to take for granted one of the most priceless gifts there is ... the Gift of Family. And sometimes it also easy to neglect the care of family, as there are so many things that call for our attention.

But we must not forget, and we must not neglect 

to nurture and care for our families. 

I recently pulled a book off my shelf that my sweet hubby gave me 34 years ago on Mother's Day ... What Is a Family? by Edith Schaeffer. I learned from her words thirty-four years ago, and I am learning again as I browse through her book.

Edith Schaeffer likens a family to a mobile. I like to also think of it in terms of a mobile wind chime - a collection of delicately, hand-crafted parts, each part needed to balance the other, and all held together by almost invisible threads. Edith describes it like this:

"A mobile is a moving, 

changing collection of objects

constantly in motion,

yet within the framework of a form."

With each passing year, this description comes even more alive to me ...

When my six children were small, when they were first placed in my arms, I was in absolute, inexplainable awe of the gift of each one. Each one unique, each one a precious gift from God. And each one entered into the holy framework of a family. 

This family has changed throughout the years, as we all pass through seasons, and we all grow and develop. And also as we go through trials together, and work together through difficult circumstances. The good times, as well as the hard times are what can bind a family together.

But families that are closely bound together are a gift - not anything we can brag of, and claim as our own creation. Families are a gift from God. 

They are like a garden, for as we carefully plant the seeds, and tend the soil, we completely depend on our Creator to bring the growth.

As mothers, we are blessed beyond measure to be a part of tending the garden, to work alongside our Creator, depending on Him alone.

"There is no possible way of having good relationships, nor of having a whole grouping of good relationships in the framework of a family, if there is no one who understands that it takes time, patience, hard times, unselfish work, sacrifice of a variety of sorts, and planning on the part of someone to insure memories of beauty sprinkled all through the difficulties." (Edith Schaeffer)

Mothers - young mothers and older mothers - let us be encouraged that our nurturing and care of our families is of prime importance. We are blessed to work alongside our Creator to love and care for the priceless gift of FAMILY.

A wind chime produces the most beautiful sounds of music. And have you noticed that as the breeze, and even the wind, picks up, that the sounds are even more beautiful than before? 

This month holds memories of when some winds blew on our family mobile ... 

• memories of a terrible accident that almost took my husband's life fourteen years ago this month, and of how our family was there for us, even some from across the miles, holding us as we walked through those difficult days, weeks, and months

• memories of a daughter's diagnosis of leukemia twenty years ago this month, memories of pain and sorrow mixed in with the blessings of a family holding on to hope together, and also memories of healing, even beautiful healing of some broken relationships

• and more recent memories of this past weekend when my husband and I had the responsibility of moving an older sibling, and our own daughters who live nearby stepped in so generously to help us as we helped another family member - they were such a huge help with the move; we could not have done it without them

The winds bring tears, but the winds also are part of producing beautiful music as a family is held together by threads of love. 

As mothers we should never underestimate the importance and value of the giving of ourselves to the nurture and care of our families, and we should never take for granted what a gift it is to live within family. A priceless gift from God; a reflection of His Love. 

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Click to read more on this topic:
Nurturing 101 (January 2016)
FOREVER CLOSE: The Heart of a Mother

Linking up with:
Jennifer at Tell His Story