"If
a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I
strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference.
They are the father, the mother and the teacher." - Anonymous
As
we continue our series on the gift of Family, the importance of a family or a
home, not a house like we already know; cannot be overemphasized. That's why
Michael J. Fox, a wise man said "Family is not an important thing. It's
everything." Have you ever wondered why when you left home the first time
you did, you found every other pattern of behaviour outside what you were used
to in your family strange and odd, this is simply because the family is the
first frontier of moulding perception, character and values.
One
of my team members shared an interesting story of how he was raised and I would
like to share his experience with you, he said:
"I grew up with my mother
and everything I knew about the church and God, she taught me. It was difficult
growing up with no father figure around but I'm sure even without a father;
with my mum we had a home. I remembered how she used to wake us in the mornings
for family devotion; with the sound of her tambourine and her singing and boy; were
those times very uncomfortable. Especially on cold mornings when sleeping
seemed the only logically reasonable thing to do. I was young and riotous but,
my mother a strong and assertive woman who wouldn't take any nonsense from me
or any of my other siblings made sure we prayed when we were supposed to. We
went to church as supposed. While she did all these, my young mind couldn't
comprehend and I used to envy my friends whom I knew didn't have to wake up as
early as we did for devotions...but years later, I can look back now and say, "Thank
God, for the way I was raised". While in the university, I didn't smoke,
party, or get involved with any of the many vices that young people are given
to, not because my mum was there to whip my behind, but because there was an
internal training working in me. And sometimes my classmates mockingly called
me "Pastor", when in actual fact; I wasn't born again at all. I was
just living life the way I'd been trained to. But for the upbringing at home
I'd have ended up like just about any other child.
Therefore, it is indeed almost a certainty that a child who didn't experience the beauty of
a family relationship or one who wasn't trained properly would derail almost
too quickly at the slightly pressure or opportunity to do so.
