As I reflect on the busy weekend I have had, one topic continues to resonate in my spirit. Love enough!! As I traveled from Dallas to Shreveport, then Homer and on to West Monroe to speak at The Branch, the same topic was echoed at each stop. Love others enough! Even enough to give them their own wings.
I raised three completely different individuals. My sons were pure goofballs at times. Not a trait passed down from me! My daughter often marched to a different drum than the others. One of my main goals while raising these three was to not only teach them truth but to channel them properly to become who God called them to be. I didn't want to try to fit them to my mold but instead help them find their own.
It wasn't so hard when that only meant allowing my daughter to crown her head with all 20 of her butterfly clips or wear her leopard print leggings with EVERYTHING! I also learned to be that boy mom that allowed my sons to explore the woods and build their forts. But as they became young adults, to shift my thinking and accept every decision wasn't always easy. Nor did I always respond well. Yet with each step we continue to love each other enough to work out our differences and grow through it.
I loved enough to teach them to follow God's plan even if that meant moving far away. My mom's heart aches at times to have these three scattered from Baton Rouge to Dallas to Canada. But they learned from me to follow God's call at any price. And God has taught me that I am to pattern mentoring others in the manner I raised me family - give them both roots and wings. Love them enough to send them off.
No matter whose lives we touch, remember to love them enough to allow them to walk a different path. As our family picture shows, we are a goofy, versatile group. Ok. Except the mom in the middle who always remains 'non-goofy' and can only shake her head and laugh! Yet that is the picture of us. A family melding our differences together to make a whole and reach a world for Christ. A family accepting the fact that, as Ephesians 4 tells us, we each have different giftings.
Ephs 4:11 (my paraphrase) .....some prophets, some apostles, some teachers, some pastors.....but all of us together.....loving enough.....
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