Surviving Parent Regrets

wasn’t the best parent. Here are my regrets:

– I wish I’d said “I love you” more.

– I wish I’d not yelled as much.

– I wish I’d been more disciplined about nighttime Bible reading and praying together, instead of hit and miss. – I wish we’d taken more family vacations. The ones we did created such wonderful memories. And you know . . . money comes, money goes. An investment in memories is worth every penny. But somehow Mercy and Grace stepped in, and we have four great kids who all finished college (two with master’s degrees), who all are married to loving spouses, and who are all gainfully employed in rewarding careers. I don’t believe in scientific, earth evolution, but I am grateful that our kids seem to be better adults than we were . . . and we have ten perfect grandchildren, so there you go. So perhaps some training sunk in. Perhaps some of our better days of example stuck. Perhaps some of the good words were remembered. And God stepped in and filled in our blank spots. And they’re pretty good about taking vacations . . . which fairly regularly include visiting us. Many thanks to our Merciful and Grace-giving God from whom all blessings flow. Janet McHenry is a speaker and author of 24 books who has lived in the Sierra Valley in northern California with her rancher husband Craig for 39 years. They raised their four kids there–and somehow they even survived her being their English teacher in high school. You can find out more about her Looking Up! ministry and perspective at https://www.janetmchenry.co