Parents

I am incredibly blessed to be a member of two loving families.  Growing up as the third of eight children, my family was a tight knit group and a source of love, comfort, guidance and support for me.  As an adult, I am blessed to have a mother and father who have effortlessly transitioned from parent to friend and grandparent while still knowing when I need my mommy and daddy (like when I was holding my 4 month old Nalley in one hand and a positive pregnancy test in the other!).

They were strict yet fair teaching me responsibility, self-control and determination while helping me see my true value and self-worth.  I know for a fact if my parents had not encouraged me to reach my full potential I would not be half of what I am today.

When I became a parent, I was scared.  I knew this was the most important thing I could ever do with my life and I wanted to do it right.  I worried how I would transition into motherhood and I worried how Leron would transition into fatherhood.

When dating, rarely do you "inspect" your date's parents.  Even as Leron and I grew closer and knew marriage and a family of our own was in our future, I gave little thought to how he was raised.  I took for granted that good kids come from good parents.  After we were married and while I was pregnant with Nalley, I took a greater interest in how Leron was raised, knowing how he was raised would impact how he wanted to raise our children.

Lee and MaryLou raised six children, milked cows twice a day and farmed a few hundred acres of row crops.  They were kind and loving people.  They welcomed me from the first time they met me.  In fact, MaryLou compared me to a heifer and I knew we were going to get along just fine!  As with any family, if they pick on you it is out of love and I heard the phrase, "we are equal opportunity insulters" more than once.  Even knowing how loving they were I was still worried there was some radical difference in parenting styles until Leron told me the following story:

I (Leron) had come in from playing in the sandbox and mom was in the kitchen.  I started complaining about how we didn't have any money and how I wanted new things like a nintendo.  My mom asked me to recall the happiest time of my life.  I told her when it was and she asked, "did we have more money then or now?"  I told her I didn't know.  She then asked, "so what is the correlation between money and happiness?"

After hearing this story, I knew we were all on the same page.  That doesn't mean we haven't had our differences in parenting approaches (Leron tends to spoil the girls and they tend to feed his ego already!) and I am sure we will have many more disagreements as our children grow, but the foundation for our girls will be built from the same materials as our individual foundations.

Our parents built us on a solid foundation of love and faith.  We have built our marriage on the same foundation of love and faith.  We are raising our children on the exact same foundation of love and faith.  With that solid foundation, we cannot fail.

I was blessed with my own amazing parents and being the farmer's wife I have been blessed with an additional set and my children have 4 awesome grandparents.  Blessings like this are truly a gift from God!

 My wonderful in-laws Lee and MaryLou at our wedding

           

                      My beautiful mother, Sara, at our wedding

My dad, Mike, at our wedding











Lenten Daily Challenge: Resolve to say only positive things about yourself and others today.
Rosary Special Intention: For my parents, in-law and all parents

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife