I had no idea that it had been hanging there since Aug 2009!
A number of people asked if I still had the original so they could get a better look at it. So, here it is:
Treasuring Our Homes and Our Families
Peggy L. Lauritzen
I
love my home and my family.
The
world I grew up in doesn’t seem to exist anymore. My father went to work and my mother stayed
home. Both were productive and were
devoted to providing a place that I could feel safe in. The black and white television shows didn’t
need to be monitored by my parents, for they were safe. Ward and June Cleaver took the time to teach
their boys good morals, Lucy was still learning lessons from Ricky for not
thinking things through, and Barney Fyffe was frantically trying to uphold the
law while Sheriff Andy Taylor was calmly teaching the community and his boy,
Opie how to get along with each other.
It’s
difficult to find those elements today, both on television and in our own
lives. But, it can be done if we make
our homes and our families our number one priority.
We
have a solemn responsibility to love and care for our families. The relationship we enter into as husband and
wife is second only to the relationship we have with our God. It requires nourishment. It requires patience. It requires putting that person above every
other person on earth. Second to that is
the relationship we have with our children.
When each of our family members enters into their home, it should be a
sanctuary and a refuge against everything else.
Growing
up in Mansfield has proven to be a blessing.
As a youth, I moved to the bigger city of Akron, and eventually the
suburbs of Washington, DC, where I met my husband. They were exciting places to live and offered
many artistic and cultural opportunities that enriched our lives. But when our family started to come, we both
knew we didn’t want to live in a large city.
We
came back to my hometown.
It
certainly had its challenges. Early on,
we decided that we would take the advice of wise ecclesiastical leaders and do
whatever we could to keep mom at home.
As we grew into a family of six, it took great effort and working
together to keep everyone fed and clothed on a single income. There were even times I longed to go back to
work to get some rest!
But,
we did it. We took advantage of every
single opportunity that we could think of that would enrich our lives. Farmer’s markets and pick-your-own fruits and
vegetables helped us make ends meet when our attempts at a garden were not
always successful. Opportunities for
stretching our imagination and learning existed in library programs and used
book sales. Watching fireworks and
taking part in parades contributed to our patriotism.
On
those rare days when all six of us were home together, we would drive short
distances to see how people who seemed to come from a different era of time
live their lives. We breakfasted by a
covered bridge and roasted day-old donuts on a campfire in the backyard while
looking up and making shapes out of the clouds.
At night, we would marvel at the constellations that can be seen only
when it is completely dark – something that one misses living in the city.
Now,
those children are gone – mostly off to bigger cities. But, they love reminiscing about home when we
talk. In many ways, they have tried to
recreate those same simple times of their youth.
It’s
just the two of us now. We are best
friends, for we nourished our relationship even while raising our four
children. We live in a different day
than when we raised our children, and certainly different from the times we
were raised in. News comes to us daily
of terrorism threats, violent weather, violence between people, and the
degrading of moral values. But, living in
a tranquil area helps me to be able to handle bad news no matter where or who
it comes from. A wise man once said “the world sees peace as being without
conflict or pain. But, we can have peace
amidst the conflict.”
Our
homes can be that place where we have peace.
As we practice love, faith, prayer, forgiveness, respect, compassion,
service, and wholesome lives, we will find that we can have that haven of peace
that others will look to and long to have.
Exercise those attributes with own selves first. The feelings of being stressed and frantic
will always be in front of us – but knowing we have peace in our homes can
readily provide the sanctity we need.
Is
this a Pollyanna dream? Perhaps. Can it be done? It can.
We have the tools and the resources all around us. If we have the desire, there are many ways to
make these things happen.
Consider
it.
Mansfield News Journal, about August 2009
