I spend a lot of time up in my head. As in a scary amount of time! Lol! Lately I’ve been thinking about what I might write to my kids. The words have been jumbled up in my head for a while and each time I try to straighten them out I wind up knotting them together even more. A friend has said to me on more than one occasion, “Your husband has really screwed things up for your daughter. There aren’t many men in this world like him!” I usually laugh in agreement and then consider just how true his statement is. Then I consider my son and there aren’t many women out there like the daughters my friend has raised. I ponder, is it so much the people they may or may not meet in their life or is it more about who I would encourage them to be that will attract the most perfectly appointed people to be in their inner circle? I believe it’s the latter and in some form or another, I’ve shared with them, much of what I would write to them. In reality, this is what I would share with not only my kids, but with all those I come into contact with ?
Aaron Watson sings a song called, “The Arrow” and some of the lyrics go like this:
I’ve been heart broke and broke down, hard up and hard fought
Misunderstood, misguided, and I’ve missed by a long shot
I understand first hand, I’ve been where you’ve been
Don’t you forget every sunset will become a sunrise soon again
So be bold and be brave and beware of those schemes,
Stay razor sharp, find your mark as you go chase your dreams
Watch out for those dangers always dancing in the dark,
When the shadows of the night shoot out the lights, I know you’ll be the spark
So promise me before you go follow your arrow,
You will pray to never stray from straight and narrow,
Be steadfast and steady, always be ready,
Aim for the stars in the sky, take heart, pull it back and let it fly
What I want most for my kids, for you, is to follow the purpose that God laid upon your precious hearts before the dawn of time. To feel sure enough in who you are to be bold, brave and steadfast even when the earth beneath your feet is quaking. Happiness comes from fulfilling our purpose and loving one another. It is not in big paychecks, fancy houses, fast cars and huge diamond rings.
I would encourage them, you, to find the beauty in the most simple of treasures. The water colored sunsets and sunrises that set the sky afire. The iridescent color of a Rocky Mountain Blue Bird in the spring. The sweet smell of the earth after an afternoon thunderstorm. The beauty in the stillness of a quiet winter snowfall, flakes falling straight from the sky and the whole scene like a snow globe that’s been gently turned, rotated and stirred. God’s handiwork is all around us if only we would pause long enough to take the time and soak it all in.
I would tell them, I would tell you, that the seemingly impossible, that thing that makes your palms sweat and your heart skip a beat, go after that! Don’t ever settle for the comfortable or the safe, sure thing. Our greatest moments of growth and exhilaration are found not in what we know rather in what is uncertain. Only when we are comfortable and we think we know all there is to know, that space in time when some place their curiosity on a shelf, and choose to stop learning new things, that is when death is certain.
I would tell them, you, to stay wild and stay free. Those who love you, will love you wild, untamed and free spirited. Those that find it necessary to change you, contain and tame you, do not truly love you. Love is something we feel, it’s an emotion and it’s so very much more than that. Love is in actions and behaviors and those that truly love us are those so secure in themselves and our love for them that they aren’t the least bit threatened when we spread our wings to fly knowing that the heart knows its way back home.
And I would tell them, you, that God loves you more than any man or woman can. He loves you in spite of the mistakes you make. As a matter of fact, He chose you before the foundation of the world!!! He knew the mistakes you would make, the weaknesses in your character, the things you would struggle with in life and the faults you would condemn yourself for. God didn’t choose you and then find Himself disappointed in you due to all your inabilities. He purposefully chose you knowing all that you lack and in all the ways you fall short! He picked you out on purpose to be His very own! Let that love wash over you like the water of a warm, tropical waterfall, pouring out over you. Soak in it, receive it and then, allow that love to pour out into other people’s lives. Be a channel that love flows in and through, not a reservoir, damming it up and becoming stagnant.
You are so very much more than what you see in the mirror. Allow the light within to shine. Be the spark that the ignites the darkness! I know that in the midst of life’s storms, sometimes we forget how to dance in the rain. The waves come hard and fast and we’re sure that the spark within us has been doused and snuffed out. It’s there, I promise you, it’s there. Are you ready to blow life into that spark? The horses and I are here, ready and waiting to encourage you, support you and stand alongside you as you rediscover the beautiful person God created you to be. Are you ready to see yourself in and through His eyes?
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