“Reaffirm your love.” There are countless occasions to practice this rule for happy human interaction. The reaffirmation of love is always appropriate and almost always needed.
About this time each day (around 7:00 a.m.) my wonderful wife and two youngest children would rise from bed and descend the steps to the kitchen. They would prepare breakfast and start their day. There we engaged in our daily ‘ritual of reaffirmation.’ I never missed an opportunity to rise from my favorite place on the sofa and stand to greet my wife and cuddle each of my children. Looking deeply into their eyes, I whispered, “I really love you.” As we embraced, each one replied, “I love you too honey” or “I love you too daddy.” These are the words I lived for. In fact, they were words I could not live without.
Today, my precious wife is gone. She died of cancer nearly seven years ago. I would give anything to see her descend again the stairs in her pajamas and messy hair. If she did, I would do what I always did... rise to meet her, hold her tight, and tell her, “I love you.”
If I did not give and receive my daily reaffirmation of love, I would shrivel and die emotionally. Adonica is gone, but I still have my children. They are older now, but they still need me and, of course, I need them. Our relationships may include rare moments of “punishment inflicted.” Truth, discipline, and honesty are essential for good relationships. Confrontation and correction may be necessary but should be...
- used sparingly
- in small doses
- with great kindness
- for a brief moment in time
- for only very good reasons
“Reaffirm your love” often.
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1 comment:
Proverbs 13:24
I have always believed in discipline I was raised that way and raised my daughters that way, but only when I left my parents little choice was the "rod" applied to my backside, and used the same approach when my daughters were at home.
But out of curiosity I once looked at the use of "rod" in the Bible and yes it is clearly used as an instrument that deat out punishment. However it also is a means of measuring a "rule" if you will allow. This means of measuring was more often the application of “rod” I received, Did I measure up to what a man should be; did I treat my mom as a son should; did I respect and protect my sisters as I was expected to?
It was the rod used as a standard to measure against that was more important in shaping who I am than the rod which dealt out punishment.
As for the reaffirmation of love, it was a word my father never spoke to his children when I was at home. That however is one of the things I decided was not what I wanted to emulate when raising my family. And with repeated effort and many years of saying it first to him my Dad can now say “I love you to son.”
YBIC
Larry
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