Honor Your Parents

I'm wrestling with this whole "Fascinating Fridays," "Bible Trivia Fridays," etc. idea on my blog.  I guess it's sensitive to my particular week, but I still want to stick to the goal of sharing a biblical principle, or bible trivia weekly.  So anyways...

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 

Exodus 20:12

I've heard this verse all my life and didn't really know what to make of it.  Does it mean obey? What about when you become an adult and are trying to make your way that may be different from how your parents would like? How do you disagree and still honor? What if you are a kid who is being abused? What if your mom is a raging alcoholic? How do we honor our parents in the midst of turmoil, heartache, neglect, abuse, or any of the other horrible circumstances that some children are living in? How do they "honor their parents?" Honor your parents is mentioned all throughout scripture, so I knew it was important.


I wanted to honor my parents and I began asking God to show me how.  


Which is when I came across this book.  I'm not going to go into all that I learned from the book, because frankly, if you are reading this, and you are a child or adult who was abused, or who has issues forgiving your parents, you NEED to read this book.  It's too deep of a subject for me to pretend I have the answers, but I do have hope.  I have hope for those who walk around wounded from their pasts.  Honoring your parents in the midst of heartache will set you free from so many things.  It's a way to "let go, and let God." 


My parents have their tributes hung proudly in their room!  How cool is that? It makes me smile every time I see them, but I'm also considering doing an updated version in 10 years or so to honor them in the things I continue to recognize as I get older.  


So, here is my tribute for my dad, for all the internet to see:).  (For those who are interested, I will share my mom's tribute tomorrow)

To my Dad. Thank you for being my dad. Since I have become a parent, I have thought a lot about the things that I appreciate and respect about you. This is my feeble attempt to make them known.

I appreciate the way you worked hard and provided for our family. We never had a need unmet, at least not that I knew of. You are a hard worker and I am thankful for your work ethic. I would be proud if I could say I meet up to you.

I appreciate your loyalty to mom. I cannot think of one bad word that you ever said about her, besides calling her an “old lady!” That little phrase used to get me so upset! In all seriousness though, you have shown me time and time again that there is nothing that will make you stop being loyal to her first. You are committed to her and I appreciate that example. You and mom are the first ones in our family lineage to stay married. I am thankful that the generational tides are turning. Thank you for never leaving us. I never worried that you would. 

I am also thankful that you gave me a better childhood than you had.

I am thankful that you protected me from most of the stuff that you endured. I know it was out of your love for us. I remember you getting really angry when I was doing rebellious things and now as a parent, I realize where that anger came from. I understand that the height of your emotions was a reflection of the depth of your love for me. You wanted to protect me and for that I am very thankful.

You are dependable. Once I can tell if you are kidding or not, I know I can take you for your word! You will do what you say you are going to do at the time you said it would be done. 

There are a few things that I catch myself doing to the boys and I remember you doing them to me! Like popping my toes and wrestling or tickling! I now appreciate those little things as tokens of affection that you were giving to me. 

I loved our late night talks usually watching the Late Show. I liked it that it was our time to visit and chat. 

I will always be thankful for your willingness to take our family in when Jason was looking for a new job, and the compassion you had towards him. You helped me encourage him.

I am thankful for the trips to the beach, trips to the lake, the huge jar of beef jerky, the digital camera, passing on your sweet tooth to me; hence jolly ranchers, nerds, and sweet tarts! I am thankful for the sweet car when I turned 16 and I am just as thankful that you sold it a year later. I am thankful that you made me work hard to “earn” another car. 

They say that children study their parents. I have studied you a lot over the years. You don’t like to share your coke, you don’t like it when people double dip, you do the two finger wave every time! You love walks on the beach, hot baths, being outdoors, learning new things, and automobiles. You don’t like half way done jobs, excuses, or being in large groups of people. I don’t either! You get heartburn when you eat Nerds, you leave the strawberry ice cream behind in a tub of Neapolitan. You get woken up easily and watch tv until you cant hold your eyes open anymore. You like to do projects for the people you love. 

I like who you are. I think I picked up a lot from you. You are my dad and I am proud. 

I love you very much.
Mindy

Have a good weekend, and try to find a way to honor your parents! You will be blessed. 


Love,

 
 **Edited to Add...Just in case it came across as though my parents were abusive or anything of the sort, that wasn't my intention. They are great.  I know many people though who have lived in abusive situations.