Day 4: My Parents

Did someone say that these were supposed to be in consecutive order? :) Yeah, I didn't think so.

Where do I begin? My parents are so special to me. I love them so much and am thankful for them even more. They helped shape me into who I am today. They taught me to love God and to keep Him first. If that was all they taught me, I would be so blessed...I know. But they taught me so much more.

My father is a great man. He is a great man of God and was/is a great father to me and my two brothers. Some of my greatest memories are those when it was just me and my dad out shopping. He would often pick up something for me, that I had mentioned I liked, even if it wasn't really in that category of the budget. I always felt special when I was with my dad. Probably one of my proudest moments with my dad was when we had taken a road trip to Mexico while living in California. We had stopped at a little taco stand and as we were getting ready to leave a man came to over to our car, opened the back door and sat on my brother. My dad told him to get out of the car but he didn't move. With out any hesitation my dad got out of the car (used words that I can't remember) and was ready to "handle" the situation. Although he didn't have to do anything, the way he got out of the car was enough to get the man on the move, we all knew he was ready to handle business. I was so proud of him that day knowing that he would do anything in his power to protect us.

My mom is a virtuous woman. I admire her as a woman of God, wife, and mom. She is such a loving, caring, and loyal woman. When I was little, I had a time when I had to be in the hospital for 6 weeks. What sticks out to me about that time of my life is that during that long stay in the hospital, I can't remember ever being alone. I'm sure there were times when she wasn't there but it must have been so little that I can't remember them. She put her whole life on hold to care for me while I was there. There might not have been much phsically that she could do, but emotionally and spiritually she was making a great impact. I know her believing played a huge role in my healing. That's an example of how she cared for us. She gave her whole heart in raising us up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

You know your parents did a good job when you find yourself often thinking, how would they handle this situation? Of course, they would be the first ones to tell you that they were not perfect parents (and hey, who is) but if my children love God and love us even half as much as I love my parents I will feel we did a great job.