Blessed children (Day 20, Proverbs)

Proverbs 20:7
“The righteous who walks in his integrity-- blessed are his children after him!”

I know that proverb is true. I’m one of those blessed children he's talking about.


I see Daddy sitting at the kitchen table with his well-worn Bible, marking up the margins with question marks and scribbles, looking for authentic (not traditional) interpretations to teach in his Sunday or Wednesday class. I see people coming to sit in our living room with him when they are having deep troubles, seeking his counsel and calm-headedness. I see him writing down visitors’ names so he can personally greet them the next time he sees them. He cares about people.

I smell roasts cooking in the (scary) pressure cooker that Mama used, feeding more people for lunches and suppers in any given year than I have in my entire life. I hear the car crank because she’s taking someone else to their doctor’s appointment. I learn to play Scrabble from watching her weekly games at a friend’s house who has multiple sclerosis. She touches people’s hurts.

Daddy and Mama taught me how to attend funerals as well as weddings, how to listen as well as talk, how to trust as well as question my beliefs.

They weren’t perfect. I remember getting mad at them, frustrated with them, confused over decisions and conversations. If I wanted to dwell on complaints, I could go there.

But I don’t, so I won’t.

I wasn’t the perfect daughter either. So just as grace and forgiveness cover me, I let it cover them, too.

Because they showed me what it looks like to love God and to love others, I reap the benefits. When our family gets together, the conversations are lively, the hugs are plentiful, and the laughter is abundant. We love each other, quirks and all.

That’s a blessing straight from the Lord—thanks to righteous parents who walk in integrity.