Passing Down a Goodly Heritage

Recently during my Bible reading, I read the following verse:  Psalms 16:11 "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."

These verses are a reminder to me, personally, that I HAVE been given a goodly heritage.  My parents were not raised in Christian homes, but they were both saved and when they had kids they made a choice to raise us in a Christian home and to raise us, not for themselves, but for the Lord.  I am so very grateful for this heritage that I have been given.  Respectively, my husband was also raised in a Christian home; in fact, his father pastored for over 30 years.  My husband, Jack, was also afforded a goodly heritage. 

Yesterday, I said goodbye to my oldest, Ryan, as I left him at college to begin his second semester of his freshman year.  It was a bittersweet moment...the kind of moment where you want to cry and yet, you stand there realizing the kind of young man your son is becoming and how exciting his future is...well, honestly, it was difficult to cry because I felt proud of him.

How can I be sad when I see my son becoming what his father and I have prayed for so many years?  It is not due to us, but rather to a God Who has seen fit to bless our children and I, believe, God has blessed our efforts as parents to provide a goodly heritage.  I am not naive to think that there are guarantees when it comes to raising our children, but I do think that if our focus is on Christ and doing our child rearing the way He desires, that there is a much better opportunity for our children to walk in this goodly heritage and in time, pass it on to their children.

How do we leave a goodly heritage for our children?  How do we help to ensure that they will do the same for their children?  Is there a magic formula....not even remotely, but rather time tested principles from the Bible that can help us.

I am going to share a few things that my parents did that can be a help to each of us when it comes to passing on a goodly heritage.  I am sure there are many things that can be added to this list, but I am simply sharing my own experiences and how my parents helped me. 

1. MY PARENTS WERE THE PARENTS
    Now, this may sound simple and well, almost ridiculous to even say, BUT it is becoming increasing unpopular in today's society to parent because we would rather be their friend and just allow them to do their own thing as children.  I mean, after all, we have to allow them to find themselves and develop their personality. 
     At the age of 43, I have a very close friendship with my parents.  I believe with all my heart is it because they decided years ago to parent me while I was young, knowing they would reap the benefits of my friendship when I became an adult.  Now, don't misunderstand me, I did consider my parents my friends, but their was and always has been a profound respect of my parents on my part.  When it came to making tough choices, my parents gave me boundaries, discipline and rules to live by.  They always believed the outcome was worth the effort of parenting.  I am extremely grateful for this in my parents.    Ephesians 6:4 "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."  My parents taught and did their best to bring me up in a way which pleased the Lord.
God is no different...He is our parent, our Heavenly Father.  His Word is FULL of teaching and instruction.  He longs to be our friend, but He also longs to teach us and instruct us in the ways which we should go.  A parent will seek what is best for us even when it is not popular...they will choose to BE the PARENT. 

2.  MY PARENTS WERE ON THE SAME PAGE
Now, this in my mind is huge.  My parents did not always agree on everything, BUT they were always on the same page when it came to us kids and our family.  I always knew that they were a united front...I didn't even try to pit parent against parent...would have been useless effort on my part.  We knew that decisions were made as a team and with the best interest of our entire family in mind.   I knew that my parents weren't perfect and that they didn't always see eye to eye, BUT I always knew they were a TEAM and that was that.  I am so thankful that my parents were united.  It taught me to hang tough through everything no matter how tough things might get.  It taught me about being real.  It taught me you can have differences.  It taught me to learn to deal with those differences.  Being on the same page and being united makes all the difference in the world in the life of one's children.  I think of the story in Genesis 27 about Issac and Rebekah how Rebekah helped her son to deceive his father...this is very sad to me.  Just think if the parents had been always on the same page, this might not have been the case.  Moms, it is especially important for us to support our children's fathers and for us to be the ones to show the children a united front.  It WILL make a difference.

3.  MY PARENTS LOVED (and still do) UNCONDITIONALLY
John 15:9 comes to mind, "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love."  My parents loved us and taught us how to love others.  They followed their words with actions.  I can't tell you how many people we kept in our home for periods of time because they were in need.  I remember so many people my parents helped with bills, helped to feed, or just whatever they needed.  My parents loved by example!  I always knew they loved me even when I was undeserving of that love...there were NEVER strings attached.  To this day, my parents love me.  They respect decisions I make as an adult and they do not withhold their love if they may disagree.  Their love is, was and always will be unconditional.  That is what God teaches us...unconditional love.  What a great example! John 15:10 states, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love: even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love."  What a great place to abide...in the love of God.  I am thankful that my parents taught me through their love of one another, their love of us kids, and their love of God how to love unconditionally. 

These are just a few things I learned while growing up in the home of Frank and Margaret Moran that I believe have contributed to my goodly heritage.  I could list  many more points but these are some that I feel are so very important to passing on a goodly heritage.  My desire for my children is that I have and will continue to transfer this goodly heritage and that when I am much older observing my children raising their children, that I will see these same qualities being passed on.

Being the parent, having unity as parents, and unconditionally loving as parents are three top essentials that will allow a "goodly heritage" to pass from one generation to the next.  These are three of my goals...what are some of yours when it comes to parenting and passing on a goodly heritage?  I would love to hear them!

From My Heart,
Robyn