I read a devotional every morning when I get up. Some hit home a little more than others. I had one the other day that really stuck with me and made me wonder what I'm sowing. This particular devotion was directed mostly toward what we reap in regards to our children, but it made me ponder beyond that.
As parents we constantly wonder if what we are doing is the right thing. We constantly struggle with how what we are doing will shape our children. Will we scar them for life with the one mistake we made? Are we too hard or too easy on them. The questions and the self doubt are constant.
When we are in school we're pushed toward continuing our education so that we can get a better job and have more than the generation before us. So we work through school. Sometimes that work pays off and sometimes it doesn't.
In life we encounter people from all walks of life. How we treat those people shapes not only who we are, but who they are. That's something that we often don't think about. The simple cause and effect of our life.
See I'm really good at pouring myself into my children. I try to give them my best. I don't always succeed. I want them to have happy memories of their childhood. I want them to remember mommy doing fun things with them. I of course want them to have more than I had. Most importantly though, I want them to know that they are loved. I want them to never ever doubt that. I want them to know my love and God's love.
As a child, my family wasn't rich. I never went without, or if I did, I didn't know it. My dad worked hard for us to have what we had. My mom was able to stay home and care for us. Both shaped me into who I am today. I remember the fun non-monetary things like picnics mom used to take us on. I remember dad working at night, but making sure he got us up every morning for school to make us breakfast. I knew love. I may have doubted lots of things as a child, but I never had to doubt that. I reaped what they sowed.
I work. I work hard. I'm fortunate enough to be in a job that puts me in a supervisory position. I am in a position to work with people from all walks of life. This position allows me the greatest opportunity to reach others. This is the area that I probably struggle with the most in reaping what I sow. I'm not sure that I'm doing what I'm supposed to to be a light for others, but I'm trying.
I've taken on a new venture in my health. As I've gotten older, my body is showing me that I reap what I sow. I've decided to sow to be a better me. Better for me, better for my family and hopefully help out some others on the way. And when I'm a better me, I'm better at all the other roles that I play.
Today I visited with my grandparents. Today I really watched my kids interact with my mom. I watched them interact with my grandma and my dad. And do you know what I saw? I saw memories. I saw love. I saw adults reaping years of sowing. It hasn't always been easy for them. There were times when they could haven thrown in the towel for a thousand different reasons but they didn't. And because they chose not to. Because they continued to pour themselves into me, my parents, my kids, I see it in their eyes. I see the love and happiness that can only come when you've truly reaped what you sow. I see it in the eyes of my kids and it fills my heart with joy.
I'm a work in progress. I want to sow better seeds in all walks of my life so that what I reap is that much sweeter. I'm forever thankful for a family that gives me grace to continue to try to get it together. More importantly, I'm forever grateful for God's unfaltering love that let's me truly see the gifts I've been given. Be patient with me, I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to be better in all that I do for you and for me because I know that I reap what I sow.
Galatians 6:7
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