Alchemy

So they took that will of "iron"
           ... and turned it into "gold"

it has been kind of a 'techno-free' week. i spent it going to my daughter's house to lend a hand cuz now she has a daughter. her name is Luthien Naomi Larkin, and they are calling her "Lucy". she is a charmer. Grandparenting is wonderful, by the way -- in case you were wondering.

my favorite part of grandparenting is watching my children parenting. my daughter is a champ. She is passionately loving, strong, wise, consistent, kind, giving ~ flat good at it! much much better than i ever was.

not only does she have a daughter, she as a son. he is AMAZING! his name is Seth and he will be 3 in just over a month. now when Beth, my daughter, was 3 ~ we already knew she had a will of iron. And...as things go, seems it is a family trait cuz all 4 of my children had wills of iron.

Now there are books out there that tell you how to parent and tell you what a strong willed child is like. I read some of them. Mostly I prayed . . . and stumbled along . . . and prayed and listened to the Holy Spirit cuz i needed LOTS of help. . . LOTS!! i shudder to think what i'd have been without God's help ~

but any way,

yes, all of them were 'strong-willed' children.

So, long and short of it :
this is what i can say i know . . . and I say this at the risk of some of you out there, where ever you are, thinking me full of 'religiosity' . . . my children are the people they are because they each have their own relationship with Jesus and because i prayed ... and because i listened and i tried : in that order! and you know what?

Jesus is an alchemist!

i watched this week while my oldest daughter firmly, and soberly, and calmly went toe to toe with her son when he had a stubborn meltdown : she has a will of pure gold

i watched this week as my son (the older of  her younger brothers) went relentlessly toe to toe with the task of writing a grant as part of his Ph.D : he has a will of pure gold

i watched this week as my younger daughter went toe to toe with two -- count them -- two group project as she finishes her business degree : she has a will of pure gold

i watched this week as my youngest son went toe to toe with a  unit test and a practicum in a very tough Biology class : he has a will of pure gold

Iron is hard and unyielding ~ gold is strong but yielding.
 Gold is valuable, meaningful, and beautiful.
Iron has its place . . .Gold creates a setting for beauty.

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