Whether it be happy or broken, everyone had a home. "Home" can be a foundation of self, easily shaken or strong. Although retracing ones steps back home may lead to unpleasantries, returning would allow a chance to savor the simplest times. Parenting is the occasion of reliving childhood moment with better understanding and appreciation for the life being created. How this insight is utilized is what will determine the success of the young home.
I had a home among the greenery of northern Idaho. The rolling hills of the Palouse served as a playground for my three sisters and I. We developed faith in a supreme being responsible for the creation of majestic mountains and forests. I hold dear to my heart the traditions of each season. A local tree farm was our winter destination, determined to find the perfect christmas tree. My father would chop it down, pack it home and his four daughters would proudly decorate it. Emerald fields were the product of endless spring rain while the snow melted. Time disappeared as we explored the mysteries of lakes and rivers and turned brown with the summer sun. Our creative minds found shade under leafy trees while we conjured up backyard games and silly songs. Inevitably, the leaves would fade to amber and autumn rose in the air with the burning fields. The pattern of change helped us to understand and appreciate the scripture in Ecclesiastes:
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck...a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Trust in our Heavenly Father and trust in each other came easily in that season of home. Only now as an adult can I piece together the critical lessons of my youth. The application of the lessons is what moves me forward. Now I see the overwhelming presence of the spirit of God within a child's innocence. The ability to see every thing as unique and real. Humility gained from a thunderstorm or a reaching view from the top of a mountain transpired more often as a child. I thirst for the ease of belief. I crave the absence of worry. I hope to preserve my daughter's right to adventure and I pray for the opportunity to return home.
