What's my "Place", What's my "Job"?

How many times have we described, or heard described, mother's and father's roles as "referee", "chaufer", "taxi-driver", "role model", "support system", "caregiver"? Isn't that just a little demeaning? I mean, really....that's it? ALL of those titles are supporting roles instead of main parts.

Whether we are a child or an adult, we are still in a main and leading role. We continue to be in the forefront of the stage of our lives. I think one of the labels in parenting that I love is "Nurturer". Nurture means to make grow. That is active, it is essential, it is a WIDE open word! It means any number of jobs, any number of skills, talents, directions, perspectives, abilities, it is closely related to "creator".

As parents we begin creating something together as we talk and dream of our lives together, even in the stages of serious dating. This relationship is a new creation. When we conceive our lives together we create in spirit what we will later create in ceremony and day to day life. Then we stand side-by-side or across an altar and commit to each other for eternity or at least until death.

We have just taken our creative powers as human beings to the next level. (Look at the majority of nature, it takes a male and a female to create a new creation.) At this point we are creating a whole world for ourselves, each other, and our children. We begin to create a home, a culture, an environment with it's own system of laws that coincide with what we want our children to know and to be prepared for, we utilize our internal and external resources to provide sustenance for this new creation called: a family.

We are not cogs in a machine or instruments for societal change, reformation, or sustainability. We are not following a script that society hands out when we join as man and woman to create more life and to build a world within our own homes. I believe we are following a pattern that was set for us by God, not to establish authority, but to give us the optimal conditions for becoming the very best that we can.

How many times have you grown and learned you were more than you thought you were because you had family that depended on you? I know that as I have faced the problems in my marriage and the challenges of parenting I have grown in diverse and astounding ways.


What are you?
Who are you?
Whose are YOU?


Liz King Bradley