Raising my precious gems

Even as news pour in concerning the violent earthquake that struck the coast of Chile early this morning, my mind still gravitates towards everyday concerns on my home front.

The father of three children aged 11, 9 and 7 respectively, I'm occasionally awed by the realization that these three gems of mine depend heavily on me (and my wife) for their continued welfare and well-being. God is their ultimate provider for their various needs, but until they reach the age of 18, I'll continue to be one of two main pillars of their existence. I fail small-scale everyday in carrying out my responsibilities towards them, but I simply cannot allow myself not to live up to what God requires of me - in the long run.

THE POWER THAT SCARES ME

What am I talking about? As 'daddy'; I have virtual supreme power over my children. Naturally, our country's laws and my conscience dictate that I cannot act in any odd way and escape a swift and just response from the various authorities involved. If I physically injure my children at any point, I will do more than just commit a crime, I will also betray my God-given mandate to protect them from any foreseeable danger. On top of that, I also risk forfeiting their basic, ingrained trust in me as the number one adult that is always there to comfort, arbitrate, counsel and protect.

If I lose that trust, I'll be dispatching them one day very badly prepared for life's eventualities: life out there is not a matter of a preplanned, well-chartered trajectory of events or experiences. Much happens that we cannot predict or ward off, and even if God will guide and shepherd them, no one has a guarantee that all will be well at any given time. Tragic things explode in the face of a saint as well.

TO BUILD UP, AND NOT TO TEAR DOWN

By all means, I'm not waiting for tragedy to hit us hard. But I'm trying my best, hopefully, always to instill in my children the values, self-esteem and social skills that will stand them in good stead when they stride onto the arena of life's unpredictabilities, as equipped as they can be to deal successfully with the challenges and problems they will be facing.

At this moment in time, my greatest fear for them isn't that they will, somehow, fail to live up to our expectations, or fail to reach their most pressing dreams, but that by word or deed I will somehow tear down, almost imperceptibly, their brittle self-esteem and sense of security and purpose in life. By criticizing unjustly, by censuring bad behaviour harshly, by holding back on the love and affirmation they need daily; by doing all that - and more - I may cause untold harm and hurt.

A BETTER CHOICE

Thankfully, I've a better option at hand. Enlightened by Scripture and the Spirit of God, I can choose, and I desire to do so always, to speak words that fortify their sense of trust in me (and my wife), and to act towards them so as to remain a good role model for them, even as they barge into adulthood with (hopefully) surmounting and conquering confidence that all will finally be well.

We all want to be good parents. I do, too. Because I've been entrusted with caring for three specimens of God's precious creatures. They're my gems, and I want them to shine for as long as they may live.