Our parents lives (and by extension, those of our older siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents, etc.) stand before us as an example of how to live and how not to live.
We see their wise choices and their good example and think, “I will do just as they have done.”
We see their parenting mistakes and think, “I will do better than that.”
We see their struggling marriage and think, “My marriage will never be like that!”
But is there really any guarantee that whatever is good about their lives will automatically pass on to us? That we will do just as they have done? That we will be as good as they are, as wise as they are, as successful as they are?
Is there any guarantee that we will automatically avoid whatever is not good about their lives? That we will not make the same poor choices? That we will not hurt our children in the same ways? That we will not have the same kind of empty, troubled marriage?
No. There is no “automatically” about it.
But it can happen if we are willing to really learn from what we see before us—both the good and the bad.
. . . to be continued.
