A Family Is Like Many Things, Perhaps Most Like ...

A family is like many things, perhaps most like a garden. It needs time, attention, and cultivation. The sunshine of laughter and affirmation. It also needs the rains of difficulties, tense moments, serious discussions about the issues that matter. And there must be spade work, where hardness is broken loose and planting of fresh seeds is accomplished with lots of TLC. Here are some suggestions for fifteen rows worth planting:

Four rows of Peas: Preparedness, Perseverance, Promptness, and Politeness.

Then three rows of Squash: Squash gossip, Squash criticism, and Squash indifference.

Along with five rows of Lettuce: Let us be faithful, Let us be unselfish, Let us be loyal, Let us love one another, and Let us be truthful.

And three rows of Turnips: Turn up with a smile, Turn up with a new idea, and Turn up with determination.

And then? Well, from then on it’s pretty simple. Water, weed, tend with care, and patiently watch the garden grow. Someday you will look back and realize it was worth all the years of all the work and effort and prayer. Like a lovely garden, your family will be a thing of grateful pride, of seasonal beauty, and of daily sustenance. (Charles Swindoll, Living Beyond the Daily Grind)