Jettisoned
Several years ago in a Christian magazine I read an article about Gone With The Wind and Scarlet O'Hara. The idea was put forth that throughout the movie/story Scarlet 'jettisoned' a number of important characteristics.
I began reading the novel when I was 'young', but it was quite a paperweight and I didn't finish it.
Having read even part of the story I have a background into the 'mind' of Scarlet, since an
author can give inner thoughts and reasonings of the characters. I'm not sure she actually ever grasped the basic important characteristics.
As my bio says, my husband and I have seven children. They are all grown up and have all moved on in their lives.
I don't know who and where all of my audience is in their journey, but most parents I would venture to say have wondered about their children.
Like, 'will their mind button ever turn on'? Or, what were they thinking?
We had a visit once from the School Superintendent because one young son was writing profane graffiti on a school desk.
When asked why, he simply said, 'I didn't think it was the same as saying it...'
Like most of us when caught doing a dumb thing the first three words out of his mouth should have covered it- I didn't think.
As with most parents who have had children grow up and go contrary to their childhood upbringing and wondered what didn't I do right? What happened?
After the pebble is thrown you can't recall it. That isn't very comforting, but it's the truth. As a parent our number one job is to raise our children with as good a foundation as possible.
As a child I assumed I would grow up, meet and marry that special person, and we would have two children. That was normal in my world. I didn't realize the great responsibility that was.
As a child there was no Bible or religious teaching, so that part never entered my mind. And when the words: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6 KJV)
did enter my knowledge I was very young in the Christian faith and an even less experienced parent.
A piano teacher my children had, gave me words of wisdom. Her first child did everything on time and was a stellar student.
Her second child was just the opposite, but they were raised the same, and she had been told— "Virginia, if you'd only had one child you would have thought you were the world's best parent..."
Virginia told me, "If you'd had only two children," she said, "you would have thought you were the world's worst parent."
And yet we still have people tell us how great our kids were. Like a house whose foundation is built solid there were some things that still held true.
I can't say where everyone will come out in the end. That teacher was from thirty years ago. And I'm not writing their story, yesterday or today, only my own story.
What I wonder at is in these times when parents give their leftover time to their families what is the foundation they are laying?
