Teach Your Children
“Here’s to a life full of joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, triumph and tragedy, faith and doubt- a life of adventure, discovery and purpose. Thank you for encouraging many people to live fully, expecting and discovering God’s hand and love in every situation.”
The above was lifted from a letter I wrote several weeks ago to an author I have admired for several years. His words and deeds exemplify for me what it means to live a life open to the possibilities and experiences that give meaning and joy to every day, even the ones that are down-and- dirty difficult. Life is full of difficulties. None of us skate through surrounded by rainbows, unicorns and sparkles all the time or even most of the time. When I look back at my life, at the close calls that could have and should have spelled The End for me, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Why am I still here? Honestly, I do not have a definitive answer, but I am glad to still be here to explore the possibilities. I had an inkling of an answer this past weekend.
As those of you who have read DISPATCHES FROM THE HEART know, music has always played an important role in our lives- we are a family that sang in the car together, listened to music from Broadway, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Queen, Steve Miller Band, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Lyle Lovett, John Denver, Joni Mitchell, etc.,etc., and so on. The transplant playlist we have in the book is really pretty wonderful.
When I walked The Camino de Santiago, right before Ed went into full- blown heart failure as it turned out, I had songs playing in my mind for miles on end: some were spirituals, others were rock anthems, and lots were folk songs. It is funny what soundtrack gets engaged in the brain walking 15-20 plus miles every day. One of the songs that played on Repeat in my head was Teach Your Children. It was a song that was very much on my mind last weekend, too, as we celebrated the baptism of our newest grandchild, Kemper Izabelle Ferguson. She and her parents, Sarah and Cameron, made the trip from Colorado all the way to Midland for Kemper to be baptized in our daughter’s church where she was baptized as an infant.
What a weekend we had! Our daughter, Laura Paige, and her daughter, Eleanor, hosted a lovely dinner party at their house Friday night for the combined Innerarity-Ferguson families. LP cooked up a storm and we all loved being together, laughing and talking all evening. The next morning, we had a Sip&See at our house. For those who are unfamiliar with this very Southern tradition, a Sip& See is a coffee or tea party that is an excuse for the ladies of the family to invite all their friends to come admire their newest member. I have been recovering from ankle fusion surgery for six weeks and am still on a knee scooter wearing an enormous boot. My children did all the heavy lifting to make this party the beautiful success it was. We let the men come by at the end to enjoy tea sandwiches, candied bacon, fruit kabobs, macarons and other fabulous party food that kept them from fainting from hunger until we we all went out for Mexican food that night. It was another great time of fellowship and conversation with the Fergusons. Is there anything that brings people together more than a baby they can all share and love? That night, sitting across the table from Dave Ferguson and next to his darling wife, Pam , (aka, The Other Grandparents), I looked down the table at our combined families, including Ed and Cameron’s sister, Abby. My eyes filled with happy tears, and I said, “Is there anything better than this?” They agreed that there was not.
I cried again, the next day, as Kemper was baptized by our dear friend, Mary Beth Anton, who, with her husband Jeff Hewett, are that sweet baby’s godparents. It was another joyful expression of God’s love, family love and an opportunity to teach love, just like the song says. Our older grand daughter was baptized in the same church, by Mary Beth, over four years ago. She cannot possibly remember it, but she drew pictures with her Aunt Rebecca on Sunday of the baptismal font and the week before discussed baptism with me. She knows that it is up to her, and the rest of Kemper’s family to teach Kemper that Jesus lives in her heart. Eleanor is very interested in teaching love to her cousin. Was I allowed to survive near misses in my past to teach or to learn? Did Ed receive his heart to teach or to learn?
Life is teaching love. Life is learning love. Life is receiving love. Life is giving love. All any of us have is this one lifetime to take care of each other, to learn from one another, to love one another.
Love and Grace,
Paige
