Becoming a parent has definitely changed my outlook on life, helped me to enjoy right.now because these moments and stages are so precious and so fleeting. You start to notice details and anticipate the excitement through your child's eyes...things that you normally would take for granted: perfect play-at-the-park-weather, airplanes in the sky, picking flowers, stopping to say "hello" or "thank you" to someone you might otherwise rush past; creating special time to read.
I love books...the escape through words on a page that leaves the pictures and characters up to your imagination; the way that written words create powerful messages and lessons about life. And, so, we try to get the library often--for story time or just to get new books; to stay excited about reading and learning. On our recent library trip, we got a funny book about Pete the Cat and his different colored shoes. Owen thinks this story is so funny because Pete the Cat says things like "groovy" which makes him giggle every time. It is a cute book about keeping a positive outlook on life, despite the bumps along the way.
I also picked up a favorite of mine from long ago: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. After reading it several times with Owen, I decided this pick was really for me. I keep wrestling with the book's message: is it about a co-dependent relationship between the boy and the tree, which leaves them both empty? Is it an example of our self-centered society which seeks personal gain without a sense of responsibility to give back to others? Or, does it describe a parent-child relationship, or even a spiritual one about Christ's sacrificial and abiding love for us?
And while the book focuses on the tree's happiness in providing for the boy, it is the boy that holds the key for me--his whole life is spent seeking and taking. Even with all the complex themes, it is neat to see Owen's understanding that the boy's desires for money and other things did not really make him happy. This book certainly offers great opportunities for discussion about the boy's actions, how we can be generous and show love to others.
While the book is left up to each reader's interpretation and offers some grim undertones about humanity, we're gonna stick to the theory of offering unconditional and enduring love to one another...the kind that moves through the changing seasons of life and gives whatever is needed--freely and without expectations of anything in return...that it is ok (and good) to need other people and be needed. That the value of our lives is about what we do with what we've been given: finding true happiness and joy, not in the material things we often seek to obtain, but in the measure of our giving and the depth of our relationships.
Like I said, I think this pick was really more for me.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance--1 Corinthians 13
I love to hear how your kids are teaching you. You encourage me by sharing what you are learning. Keep that up. :)
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