Grow

We have a doorjamb which has been designated to recording the height of our children and grandchildren. It was something we didn’t have when we were kids because we didn’t own the houses that we lived in. I don’t remember even having such a growth chart in the other two houses that we own either. I guess I felt deep down that we were only passing through these two places. Once we moved to the farm I declared that my next move would happen in my “pine box”. It had been such an undertaking that I really didn’t and still don’t want to do that again.

Let’s go back to the growth chart. It surprises me that the children still measure themselves against the marks that are there. You have to smile as parents compare their children to themselves and their Aunts and Uncles.

Growing taller is only one sign that we are growing. We have to grow inside as well. I often feel sad for those parents that do not experience this for whatever reason in their children. Yes we all have days when we are frustrated with their behaviour but in the end they are alive, active and capable. What more should we ask for other than patience.

Of course as adults we don’t stop growing either. We learn different things from our world, our children and grandchildren. There are two things that I must remember when it comes to growth. One is that if I compare myself to those around me, it will stunt my growth as a person and the second is that I am still only passing through this world. “For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.” 1Chronicles 29:15