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It's amazing what we can fit into our car.
It also validates our need/desire for a van. I never thought I'd use the words "van" and "desire" in the same sentence, but I almost salivate now every time I see a newish Odyssey. Oh, the space. Oh, the comfy chairs. Oh, the DVD player. Oh, the automatic sliding doors.
I was thinking today about unrealized talent. Of course, my main desire for my baby girl is that she grow to love and serve the Lord. I think I will have failed as a parent if I haven't succeeded in instilling how important her soul is to God, to herself, and to us. Then I got to thinking about how much responsibility it is, as a parent, to scope out what your child is good at (and enjoys) and really foster that.
When I was 7 years old I was sitting in the bleachers of a middle school gymnasium with my parents watching my younger sister play basketball. Lindsay was/is the athletic one of our family. She always excelled at sports and really enjoyed it. Zoom in on me when I was on a little league softball team and I'm squatted down in the outfield plucking dandelions from the grass. I know it's pretty common to be 6 years old and completely uninterested in organized sports. I still wish I would have picked a sport and stuck with it just for the experience of team playing and staying physically fit. But, anyway, not my point.
So I'm on the bleachers with a blank sketch pad in my hands. I drew a cow. I remember this next moment very vividly. My mom praised me for drawing such a good cow. I mean, she really praised me. I felt so good about that stupid cow. Soon after, my mom took me and my sisters to a hobby store to load me up on some art supplies. My mom is extremely talented...she was always a skilled art student and looking at her drawings from high school and college always inspired me. The creativeness I have in my DNA, I'm proud to say, came from her.
So we're in the hobby store and she wants to buy me an art portfolio - you know, one of those big folders with the handles that you can carry your art around in. She's squatted down in the aisle of the store, propping a portfolio in her hand, looking at me. She asks me if I think I could use one. Inside I screamed, "Yes!" and was literally bursting with pride from the attention she was paying me. But, I could tell my sisters were less than enthused about our little hobby store outing, and when I glanced behind me in the aisle of that hobby store, my gaze was met with glares. They were kids. They saw that I was getting attention and they weren't. But, I didn't want to cause friction so I declined the portfolio.
I still regret it.
I don't know why - I just do. My mom was trying to show me that she saw my interest in art and she was investing time in my talent.
So, my prayer is that what Amelia finds that she's interested in and talented in, that I can also recognize that and support her. Obviously as long as it's wholesome I want to be able to really let her blossom into whatever she wants to be.
I do, however, want to start her out with a musical instrument (with her fingers, hopefully the piano or the violin) and a sport and crafts at home.
Okay this went on a lot longer than I had hoped and now David is waiting on me to finish packing so we can get the car loaded.
This started a whole new line of thinking in my head so I'll probably want to continue with it later.
1 comments commented:
It's funny - the things we regret. There's no doubt that you will foster much love and support for Amelia. She already knows how much she is loved by you and David! And I've no doubt that our little ones have already had conversations with Jesus - before we even met them ;)
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