Your last bullet point about home being a safe and nurturing place for your children now *and* when they are adults -
Not judging or shaming, but I have noticeable unease when I visit my mom’s house (where I grew up, my parents divorced about 15 years ago when I was in college, my mom kept the house). I lived away at the end of nursing school for an internship, and when I returned, the home I loved and where I was nurtured was no longer the same, and shortly thereafter I purchased my own home. There are physical components that make it hard to feel comfortable, but more critically, the tone has changed over the years from one of nurture and family togetherness to things I don’t really need to name. I had never considered the importance of cultivating a safe and nurturing home throughout the entire lifespan of my kids (not a mom, yet), but wow, in looking at my own feelings and unease in my old home, I see how important it is. In contrast, my grandparents’ house is one that has sustained the same wonderful environment since I was a child!
One recent summer, at a family reunion, God showed me a similar message. My family is enormous, so family reunions are crazy and awesome. My grandmother birthed 9 children and each of those children had many of their own, so a couple years ago the horde of us pulled in my aunt's house and were hanging out in and around her pool. From across the pool I caught sight of my sweet grandma, on the porch quietly sitting and observing the absolute chaos that is 40+ people in the pool. She sat there contently smiling. At that moment, I saw it. A woman's treasure is not climbing the corporate ladder, it's not the mass of her social media following, it's not how successful her husband is or how perfectly scheduled and executed her day is. It's her children. (Not saying we have to have 9). But I felt like God was saying, be careful or you'll miss it. What a blessing, to be in her old age and looking out across the legacy she will soon leave behind on this earth. That's far more priceless than any amount of corporate success or individuality.
Your last bullet point about home being a safe and nurturing place for your children now *and* when they are adults -
Not judging or shaming, but I have noticeable unease when I visit my mom’s house (where I grew up, my parents divorced about 15 years ago when I was in college, my mom kept the house). I lived away at the end of nursing school for an internship, and when I returned, the home I loved and where I was nurtured was no longer the same, and shortly thereafter I purchased my own home. There are physical components that make it hard to feel comfortable, but more critically, the tone has changed over the years from one of nurture and family togetherness to things I don’t really need to name. I had never considered the importance of cultivating a safe and nurturing home throughout the entire lifespan of my kids (not a mom, yet), but wow, in looking at my own feelings and unease in my old home, I see how important it is. In contrast, my grandparents’ house is one that has sustained the same wonderful environment since I was a child!
One recent summer, at a family reunion, God showed me a similar message. My family is enormous, so family reunions are crazy and awesome. My grandmother birthed 9 children and each of those children had many of their own, so a couple years ago the horde of us pulled in my aunt's house and were hanging out in and around her pool. From across the pool I caught sight of my sweet grandma, on the porch quietly sitting and observing the absolute chaos that is 40+ people in the pool. She sat there contently smiling. At that moment, I saw it. A woman's treasure is not climbing the corporate ladder, it's not the mass of her social media following, it's not how successful her husband is or how perfectly scheduled and executed her day is. It's her children. (Not saying we have to have 9). But I felt like God was saying, be careful or you'll miss it. What a blessing, to be in her old age and looking out across the legacy she will soon leave behind on this earth. That's far more priceless than any amount of corporate success or individuality.