I heard myself say this the other day to one of the girls.
And it suddenly occurred to me that Your Dad is right; we really don't understand life until we have kids. I'll bet God feels just like that towards us sometimes.
As I understand it, God is the perfect parent:
never tiring,
never saying the wrong thing,
letting us work things out by ourselves.
His kindness covers all our mistakes,
and waits a long time trusting we'll correct those mistakes.
I was cleaning the bathroom at midnight, and commented to Valerie that
raising a family was a big job.
She said "but we turned out great, right?"
I thought to myself, "perhaps the better question is:
"did I, the parent, turn out better because I knew these 7 people who came to my family?"
I hope I am a good parent for the dedication I put into my job,
but I am a better person for
having Brian coach me through my math exam,
For Jill explaining about insects,
For Mark asking difficult questions, and then explaining "it's like this mum..."
for Katie taking me to the theatre...
for Amy's love of animals. (when you live with animals, a clean car doesn't mean much)
For Valerie's leap into her university studies.
Jill once commented "It's not right to say 'I'd like to see how Michael turns out, it makes him sound like a popover"
He's a part of our lives, and helps form us as much as we form him.
Everything I know about God, I learned from raising children.
Also from my dogs.
