Time and time again I have been convicted about the importance of family. Our families re the only thing of value in this world. The only legacy to last. There si a beautiful allegory that compares everything we do in life to building sandcastles on the beach that the tide of time WILL wash away. But the people with whom we build those sandcastles, and the time it takes, those two things can never be washed away. This is our legacy.
Braveheart and I hope to equip our children to enter this world as secure, confident men and woman who are unafraid. We hope to equip them with their identity and destiny with God's leading (an aside – this is one of the greatest tragedies I saw when I was teaching – teenagers leaving school unsure of what to do with their lives, unsure of who they were). We want to ensure that they fly out our hands as straight and true arrows, expertly crafted and equipped to land on target.
Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.Psalm 127
In the words of Charles Spurgeon:
A man of war is glad of weapons which may fly where he cannot: good sons are their father's arrows speeding to hit the mark which their sires aim at. What wonders a good man can accomplish if he has affectionate children to second his desires, and lend themselves to his designs! To this end we must have our children in hand while they are yet children, or they are never likely to be so when they are grown up; and we must try to point them and straighten them, so as to make arrows of them in their youth, lest they should prove crooked and unserviceable in after life. Let the Lord favour us with loyal, obedient, affectionate offspring, and we shall find in them our best helpers. We shall see them shot forth into life to our comfort and delight, if we take care from the very beginning that they are directed to the right point.
“We know the worth of dead, or rather lifeless treasures, but who knows the worth of living treasures?
Children are compared to "arrows". Now, we know that sticks are not by nature arrows; they do not grow so, but they are made so; by nature they are knotty and rugged, but by art they are made smooth and handsome. So children by nature are rugged and untoward, but by education are refined and reformed, made pliable to the divine will and pleasure.—George Swinnock, 1627-1673.
We realize that we must live out our marriage and our parenting with the big picture in mind always. We must ask the question—how is what we are doing now going to change the future and affect future generations?
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