Finding The Perfect Gift for Perfect People

This week my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary! They may not be perfect but I think I did a pretty good job of raising them. I had the privilege of teaching my parents all about patience and control as I was growing up. There were times when my actions (not on purpose of course, but to train and better their parenting skills), should have led to harsh penalties and "tannings". But through my use of pleading and begging I remained on this earth- alive. My memory is very foggy about the details of those instances. But I would say that the time I drove my brother's car into the side of the garage could be one of those moments. Or when I fed the tulip bulb to my neighbor, Eddie. Or when I used my mother's 78 records as target practice (this is one of those instances that I feel the worse guilt). Or when I decided to mow down those thorny bushes close to the fence (how was I to know they were prize rose bushes). They did learn many wonderful traits through all of these trials.

They must have needed a lot of work when they first got married because God decided that they needed not one son to teach them these attributes, but three. I can't image what it must be like being raised by three boys, each as different as the next. The brain, the brawn, and the baby. I was the baby. Actually it was just a role I played. Even to this day, Momma introduces me to her friends by saying, "And this is our baby." And then I blush. It is my role and I don't mind. Even though I did a good job raising my parents, I failed miserably at raising my brothers. I don't know where I went wrong (I actually think they were adopted and they never got over the fact that they were orphans).

I can't take all the credit for the way they turned out. From my own personal involvement with them for 40 years, I realize there are some traits that I never had to worry about training them in. One quality they have mastered pretty well on their own is love. My parents are "madly in love" (they were just "in love" before their three angels came upon the earth). I never had to teach them faith. And I never had to teach them joy. It's these three qualities that I was the beneficiary of - love, faith, and joy. I just hope that somehow I can pass these qualities on to those around me. Thanks Pop. Thanks Momma.

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