Week 41 2013 Mom and Dad

At what age do we finally come to the realization that Mom and Dad actually do know something?  I don’t have the answer.  It has been my experience that it is different for everyone.  Some of us come to appreciate our parents at an early age, while others either never figure it out, discover it at mid-life, or receive the message after their parents are in the grave.  That is extremely unfortunate.  Much is lost through not learning this truth at a young age.  For some reason we don’t get it that experience has served to teach our parents lessons that can only come with age, unless we decide to learn from their experience.  Instead, we often insist on learning through our own hard knocks.

As a small child our parents are super human.  They can do anything, and they know everything.  Mom and Dad have the greatest impact on our development.  Our provision is dependent on them and we give little thought to the cost, because they are only doing what comes natural.  We offer them our complete, unadulterated love and devotion, regardless of their flaws and imperfections.  However, for many of us those times are short-lived.  As we grow into our puberty, many of us decide that we know more than anyone else, including our parents.  Our parents are no longer the super humans they once were.  In fact, for some, they are actually seen in a completely opposite light.  They know nothing, and they could learn a great deal from us.  For years they had made us the center of their universe, and now we become the center of our own universe.

The lyrics to an old song offer this bit of wisdom: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”  Most of us come to a point in our maturity when we realize that our parents, although not perfect, actually do know some things that would be of benefit in our lives.  Through our own process of learning through experience it suddenly dawns on us that our parents have even more experience from which to have gained knowledge.  Once again, we begin to revere them and dread the day of their departure from this world, our world.  Unfortunately, some don’t come to this realization until it is too late.  Dad and/or Mom have already died and they are missed.  For those who are in this position, the grief is greater.  Praise God if you are among those who are able to discover your parents wisdom before they are gone.

Proverbs 1:8-9