Dear Ryan and Will,
Question No. 7 asks, "What is your dream job, and why?" You'd think that would be an easy question. And I reserve the right to change my answer at any time.
I am pretty much doing my dream job right now. First, I am a wife to your dad. Second, I am a mom to you boys. And third, I am a school counselor. This entry will be about jobs 1 and 2.
Why is being a wife and a mom a dream job, you wonder? Good question. Frankly, before I had you boys, I would have wondered the same thing. I was career driven and success minded. But during the last 11+ years I have been bestowed the enormous responsibility to be a wife and a mom first, before any other job. I have held other jobs before, but none like this. None that were so critically important that your futures hang in the balance.
Being a wife and mom is the most important job I will ever have. And it's the most important because you boys are the most important things in the world. The way your dad and I raise you will have permanent ramifications on your overall health, happiness and well being. And other people's well being, too: someday your wife, your kids, your friends, your co-workers, your adversaries, and most importantly your eternal destiny.
We've raised you boys to know and love God. And you do. Both of you have made the most important decision you will ever make: to trust Christ as the leader of your life and accepting him as your Lord and personal savior. Now the challenge will be to make sure you continue to rely on him. This won't be as easy. And I am going to make you do things you might not choose to do to ensure this happens, but I will do it because I love you.
My job as your mom is to make sure you have a solid set of values and morals that ground every decision you make. I hope they are there because your foundations have been set by this time. Now my job is to hold you accountable to the decision you make.
When you make the right decisions, my job will be to encourage you, love you, congratulate you and reassure you. Making good decisions won't always be easy. In fact, sometimes making right decisions will be the hardest thing to do, especially into your teen and young adult years. You will get pressures from all directions to make the popular choice, not the right choice. Every choice you make today matters for tomorrow. One small bad decision can have long-term ramifications.
For example, choosing to drink before you are 21 can lead to a bevy of bad things. People who are drunk aren't always thinking clearly. In fact, alcohol and drugs can cloud your decision making so much, you might do things under the influence that you would never do otherwise. Like drink and drive. Like break the law. Like hurt people you love.
My job if you make the wrong choice will be to encourage you, love you, correct you and help issue a consequence. Consequences are a real part of life that you have to face. My job is also to help you see long-term consequences for a one-time bad decision. THIS IS NOT EASY. Your dad and I do not like for you boys to be in trouble. We want you to have freedom and fun and live life. But sometimes that is irresponsible because we are still in charge of teaching you and helping you become amazing men.
What you do in your life - the relationships you make, the way you worship God, the jobs you choose - they all matter in this world. You are special and can change the world. What you do will matter. And I can't wait to see what you choose.
Will you be engineers? Doctors? Performers? Pastors? Accountants? Actors? Athletes? Politicians? I don't know, but it is so exciting to see what happens.
So making sure you are God-following, healthy, happy adults is the best and most important job there could ever be. And it's because of how much your dad and I love you. And we love each other. And being his wife will help you choose wives some day, too.
This job matters like no other.
I love you boys.
Love,
Mom
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