Men around me talk of wealth
Of houses, cars and lands
401k’s and IRA’s
And stock portfolios so grand
I’ve not much money in the bank
The possessions I own are few
But I feel as rich as any man
With many things all new
I look around my table
And my heart does swell with pride
As I gaze on four dear children
And the woman at my side
Though individuals, they’re part of us
Through our love they came to be
And nothing more could we two own
That would make us as rich as these
I wrote that poem some thirty years ago, when all of my children were still living at home, during their school years. At some point during an evening meal my heart began to swell and overflow with the love that filled my heart for my wife, Sandy, and for our four children, Travis, Erin, Emily, and Ellen. I remember leaving the table desperately searching for some paper and a pencil. The poem Family, then flowed from tip of my pencil.
Though children have since grown up and married and are now raising children of their own, I still count my greatest wealth, not in the things that I possess but in my family, bearing witness to the truth that the greatest things in life are not things.
We are living in a day in which children are not valued as God meant them to be valued. Many couples have made the decision not to bring children into the world for a variety of reasons. Sandy and I at one time, early in our marriage, pondered whether or not to bring children into this troubled world. That may have been a factor that contributed to the fact that we were married seven years before our first child was born. Somewhere along the way we jettisoned that idea and in the next seven years gave birth to four children, who have in turn given to us twelve grandchildren.
In a world that values children less and less, passages like the two below really stand out.
“How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy, and it will be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive plans around your table. Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord” (Psalm 128:1-4).
And…
“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate:” (Psalm 127:3-5).
Did you hear that? Children are a reward! The Psalmist compares them to arrows that fill a quiver and calls the man blessed who has a full quiver!
It seems like yesterday that I held my newborn children in my arms. Since those days, I have now held my newborn grandchildren. As the writer of Proverbs has stated, I now wear a very special crown. “Grandchildren are the crown of old men…” (Proverbs 17:6). And from the vantage point of today, I shake my head in wonder that I ever considered not bringing children into this world. For nothing has made Sandy and I as rich as these.
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