Got To, Get To – Change The Way Your Family ThinksWritten by Lindsay Small
I recently heard a story that has literally changed way that I, and my family, think about life. The story is as follows:There was once a high-powered woman in her 30s who ran her own company and was massively successful in business. Yet every single day, at 10am, she visited her elderly mother, who was in an old peoples’ home. When asked if she could attend meetings at that time, she would reply, “I’m sorry, I’ve got to visit my mother”. She sometimes resented commitment and was occasionally ridiculed, but nevertheless answered, “No, I’m sorry, I’ve got to visit my mother.” One day her mother died. Soon afterwards she was asked if she could make a meeting at 10am following day. She started to reply, “No, I’m sorry, I’ve got to visit my mother”, but of course quickly realised that this was no longer case. Sadly, she realised that for many years she had been saying, “I’ve got to visit my mother” when what she should have instead been saying was, “I get to visit my mother”. She would never "get to" visit her mother again. So how does story relate to other situations? I have been surprised by how many times story has seemed appropriate since I heard it, just a few weeks ago. It applies to so many different aspects of family and working life, from large to mundane. For example, I first told my son story when he was complaining about some extra French classes he was having at weekends (“I can’t believe I’ve got to go to French tutor”). I explained that he is lucky to "get to" have French classes: lucky that we care enough to notice he needs them, and lucky that we can afford to pay for them.
| | Summer Camp Care PackagesWritten by Rachel Paxton
Every summer our daughter goes to summer camp. She looks forward to it every year. I can't believe next summer will be her last opportunity to go to camp before she goes off to college. Our daughter started going to summer camp when she was in middle school and has gone every year since. She finally graduated from camper and kitchen help to camp counselor this year. Every year I send her a care package with candy and other treats and she always looks forward to receiving it. Our daughter just returned from spending two weeks on a ministry trip to Honduras, was home for one day, and then is going off to church camp for a week. I knew we wouldn't have much time to talk between trips, so I decided to write letters to her to send to her at camp. I wrote to her about some of my day-to-day activities and about what she was missing in news. I wrote about Hurricane Dennis and how worried I was for her so far away from home. I told her she was always in my prayers and how much I missed her. Just in two weeks she was gone she missed her baby brother's hair falling out and her brothers' first colds. I knew she missed her baby brothers very much and missed their baby hugs and kisses. I told her about what they were doing and that they missed her too. Because we like to spend a lot of time talking about our spiritual lives, I shared with her what I had been learning in my daily devotions and shared what my prayers were for her. I wrote three letters to my daughter to open on different days and included pictures of her brothers that she likes to carry around with her wherever she goes. I packaged up letters with some candy and sent her care package off to her today.
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