Living up to Expectations

  While preparing this message, I could not help thinking of my dad and how perfect I thought he was. He was loving, considerate, funny, hardworking, honest, smart, faithful and a good athlete. I often thought to myself that if I could somehow manage to be half the person he was, I would have done well to honor him. I wanted so much to be like dad and there is no doubt in my mind that he wanted his children to take on some of his characteristics, to be more like him. He was smart and realistic enough to know that no two people, but in our case, no 12 people, can or will be the same. However, because of a little thing called genetics, some traits are inherited and others would have to be learned. The truth of the matter is that most parents enjoy the thought of seeing themselves in their children.

    Most responsible parents, when they decide to have children, get together and plan. They begin to imagine what the child will look like, what they will do and teach them.

All of us who have children have images of what we would like for them: the kind of person, career, etc. We want our children to be more like us because we feel we have experienced enough to give them a leg up on life. We will give them every opportunity to fulfill the image that we have of them as children and adults.

    Just think how proud you will feel when you hear someone say that he or she is just like his or her dad or mom. They walk like him, talk like him, look like him, treat people like him, and act like him.

    In other words, you would be honored for children to say that they want to be like their parents. From the time of birth, we begin to dedicate ourselves to preparing our children to be what we imagine them to be. We are willing to give them every chance in the world to live up to our image of them. When they fall we are there to pick they up, when they fail we are there to help them regroup. When they disobey, we are there to give them another chance. Parenting is not easy but it is a task that we have been blessed with and gladly accept. It is our responsibility to nurture and guide our children so they may eventually become the persons we expect them to be. This is when the true joy of parenthood is felt and achieved.