Neal Pollard
The Bible says that “children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Ps. 127:3). That verse reminds us of the stewardship of the eternal souls we partner with God in bringing into this world and immediately begin pointing toward eternity. Weighed down with the thought of that prospect, Lee Fisher wrote this poem:
I have appreciated that poem ever since the day my dad gave it to me as a gift, the day my oldest son was born. The plaque had hung in his office, and I have looked at it for most of the days since it has belonged to me. As the years of fatherhood have added up for me, I pondered where the sequel to Mr. Fisher’s poem was. Not having found it, I attempted to write one of my own. Here it is:
That little chap grew big and tall,
No longer is he quite so small,
He’s got facial hair,
He drives a car,
He plays point guard
And steel guitar.
I look into his eyes and see
A deep imprint put there by me.
His tone of voice, his emphases,
All things he listened and learned from me.
He’ll soon leave home
Make his own way,
And more than once I’ll hear him say,
“I am today in all I do,
What all these years I’ve seen in you.”
–NP
For good or for ill, I am leaving a legacy by my parenting. If the realization of that does not help me, I will likely live to have it haunt me. How well can I lead my family to be where they need to be if I am not where I need to be. If I am, they are more likely to get there, too!
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