One of my families recently shared some details about a trip that they made to Portugal. One of their family outings included a visit to a house that was built 1500 years ago. That house had been lived in for over 1000 years. That would be about 30 generations….a lot of Great-great-greats for grandparents.
Last year my wife and I built a house. The idea of it lasting 100 years is a stretch let alone 1500 years. (and No, that’s NOT a comment on my construction skills.)
I began thinking about that mason 1500 years ago, setting those rocks in place applying some mortar, fitting another rock. Was he in any way aware that the rock that he had just put in place would be there 1500 years later? Was he aware that MANY generations of people would be living in that house? I wonder if he thought at all about the MANY children that would be raised there, the many meals shared, the many families that would call it home? Did he have the slightest inkling of the impact that his seemingly insignificant act of putting a series of rocks into place would have?
Every day YOU “add a rock”, YOU “add some mortar”, YOU are building into a life. The life of the child(ren) that you are building into daily will go on to create a loooooong legacy. They will pass on the things that you are teaching them, skills, attitudes, convictions, and knowledge, to their children, their grand children and so on.
I’m not sharing this to freak you out or to make you think that if you screw up a lesson or two that you’re messing up your child and generations to come. Please don’t get that at all. My purpose in writing this is to encourage you to see the incredible value and legacy in what you are doing.
Raising children is a challenge and an amazing responsibility. When we rely on God daily, when we cover our children with prayer, and when we don’t give up in teaching them the skills, attitudes, convictions, and information that they will need and pass on to those who follow after.
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