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Impacting my life
By: Jan Verhoeff
Another cup of cold coffee sitting on the back of my desk is cold, and yet another page of math waiting before me to grade.
The phone just rang with another job to be completed day before yesterday and here I sit with writer's block, again. While
I can think of many things I could write about - none of them fit within the realm of business topic - or even home office
information that would serve as an article for one of the trade magazines I write for regularly. My deadline is tomorrow.
None of the topics I keep ready appeal to me today. I'm more interested in writing about something close to my heart. I have
an unbidden desire to write about someone or something that will change the course of my life, or at very least have significant
impact.
As I watch my sons play WCW on the trampoline outside my front window - it slowly dawns on me; what I really want to do is
record this moment in time. I want to share the joy that wells up inside of me when one of my children accomplishes something.
I want to scream to the mountaintops that I have somehow accomplished something wonderful - through God's gentle blessing;
I have created a child that provides for me mountains of joyful moments.
It isn't the purple ribbon award moments that mean the most. It is the unusual moment that just kind of happens, like the
spelling test passed with all words except one correct, and “that was Really hard, Mom”. It's the moment my four-year-old
first ties his shoes and gives everyone else a hug because he is so thrilled. It's the moment my fourteen-year-old realizes
that it is okay if she doesn't dress just like all the other kids, because she looks better in another style. It's the moment
my kids realize they are individuals and capable of the next step toward maturity.
A conversation that gives me insight into the mind of a five-year-old child, and understanding he actually did comprehend
the meaning of a story told in Sunday School, or during our weekly history lessons becomes one of the most joyful moments
of my day. It is amazing how these moments are even more critical to my esteem than a purple ribbon award moment in my career.
It is significant that this realization happened while I was sitting in front of the computer attempting to pound out a required
article, that may further my career as a business writer. The simple fact that I was in career mode when I had the realization
says to me that, as important as my career is - my family is more important, on a baser level. It says that even if I'm at
work, my family motivates me on to greater things. It implies that there is hope of turning around what is becoming the song
of loss in America - the LOSS of the FAMILY.
I believe as parents our responsibility is to maintain a relationship with our children. A relationship that allows them freedom
to choose within limitations that we provide is necessary. We should give our children honor, and honor our parents, so that
our children see honorable relationships working for the good of all concerned. I choose to home school my children, because
I want them to enjoy the time we spend together and to enjoy the time they spend with each other. I commend the education
system for the job they are doing with students. I realize home education would not work in every family, nor should it; this
is America and we have a choice.
Is there someone or something out there that will change my life or impact my life? The answer is a resounding YES!!! There
are four little some bodies out there who impact and change my life daily. I call them by name, scream at them, yell at them,
encourage them, love them, and guide them, sometimes right and sometimes wrong - but always with the realization that I am
building the future leaders of my country, members of the next generation. As a parent, I receive great pleasure, and even
greater honor, to see my children solve their own problems and grow slowly, daily, and much too quickly toward the independence
of adulthood. I'm not alone in this realization; parents everywhere realize that all too soon their children are no longer
within their control or influence.
Besides the fact that our children have an impact on our lives, it is our responsibility to make an impact on their
lives. We must first give our children the strength of a foundation to build upon, and then with unwavering joy, we must set
them free to fly independently into the future. We must realize that we are influencing the choices of the next generation
and set out in faith and love to do justice to the opportunity we have been given.
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