Day 2 of Thanksgiving - My Parents

The "older" couple in this picture are some of my favorite people.  They are the ones I call Dad & Mom.  They are the ones that God entrusted in to raise me and my 3 brothers.  Today, I am thankful for them.  Since becoming a parent, my respect and appreciation for them has grown.  It makes me sad sometimes that as kids we don't appreciate them as much then.  How much easier we could have made their lives.

My parents gave me a heritage that not every person is blessed with, and that heritage is a Biblical worldview. They taught me about God and placed me in environments that furthered their own teaching.  They instilled in us kids the things that are important in light of eternity. Some would look on and scoff thinking that is too sheltered.  I can honestly say a sheltered life never hurt anyone.  But rather it better prepares us for our real life that is to come which is outside this world, Heaven.

My parents are hard workers and they didn't just keep it to themselves.  They passed their work ethic on to their kids.  And my brothers would say more so to them than me. LOL  My dad's #1 rule in the house was always work first play last.  When not in school I spent my days feeding animals, watering and weeding the gardens, mowing grass, helping mom with the canning, washing the supper dishes, vacuuming, dusting, ironing, and after I had my drivers license I did a lot of the grocery shopping, banking, and other errands.  I cleaned dad's houses and went with mom to pick out kitchens, lights, tile, & carpet for dad's houses. They gave us kid's the training/tools we would need to make it on our own in life.

Dad loved us kids which made him tough on us. When we got our feelings hurt he listened, and then told us to let it run off like water on a duck's back.  At the time, those words were never what we wanted to hear.  But looking back they were to our benefit.  He is a self, employed business man. He served his country via the Navy.  He has worked hard all his adult life to provide for his family and to give us a lifestyle that is only possible here in America.

Mom was/is one of my hero's in the Christian faith.  If I can be half the Christian lady she is I might accomplish something good in this world.  You won't find her on the front page of Christianity Today or even within it's pages for that matter.  But she is on the cover of my life's book.  It was because of her faithfulness that I am who I am today.  Too many parents look at their kids through rose tinted glasses.  Their kids never do anything wrong.  And when the kid does slip up the parents turn their head away because they don't want to accept that their offspring blew it.  Not my mom and I am so thankful!!  While racing through my teenage years at full speed with a heart of rebellion, it was my mom who stopped me in my tracks. She looked me in the eye one day and told me that I was being rebellious and quoted "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry."  I Samuel 15:23a
Talk about a wake up call.  It was the very thing I needed.  

Thank you mom and dad for raising me the way you did, I'd pick you to do it again if given the choice.  You gave me a good child-hood. One that I look back on with fond memories!!