On Saturday my oldest son left home to return to college.  He was home one month, but it seemed like a day.  I’m not the Lord- OBVIOUSLY- but it felt like the whole “a thousand years is but a day” thing happened.  (Look at 2Peter 3:8 if I’ve just completely confused you)

Anyway…he left on Saturday at 4am.  As we hugged goodbye for about the 5th time, he said, “Mom, I left a little part of me behind for you.”  After the comment he chuckled and said, “I mean I didn’t make up my bed.” 

For this to have relevance you must know this about my eldest- he is messy.  I don’t mean that he just leaves things lying around every now and then; he is the messiest person I’ve ever had the privilege of living with. No…scratch that, he’s the messiest person I’ve ever known. 

Leaving his bed unmade was no surprise- I would’ve expected nothing different.  Comforter half on the bed and half in the floor, one pillow smashed in a corner against the wall, the other at the foot of the bed, sheets so tangled that you wonder if he can tie knots with his feet….all of it was much more than just another example of his messiness; it was a picture of something he wanted me to “get.” 

Even more than the unmade bed, his pointing it out in the way he did was his way of saying something to me.  He was saying, “I’ve been here and I want you to remember that I’ve been here.”

I think as human beings we want to be remembered. We want to know that when we’re gone, we’ve left something behind that someone can look at and say, “That was (fill in the blank with your name).”  We want to leave our fingerprints on things, but more than that, we want to leave our mark on the hearts of others.

We leave our fingerprints all over the people we influence.  Isn’t this the antithesis of why we as parents are at times so neurotic about how we raise our kids?  There are many quotes in the annals of parenthood (“Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about!”), but none more often used than this one- “Don’t do as I do, do as I say.”   And why is that?  Fingerprints. 

The truth is whether it’s what we say or what we do, we leave a mark.  Our life with the people we love might be neat and tidy at times, or it may be messy…really messy…knots in the sheets messy.  The point is that we want to be there- for better or worse.  The dinners we eat together, the conversations we have, the laughter, the tears, even the fights, they all mean something- or at least they should. 

I want few things more in this life than for my kids to look back and say, “She left a little part of herself behind for me…and it was a good part.”   I want to leave my fingerprints, even if they are a little smudged in certain places. 

If I’m really honest, I wouldn’t mind if they also said something along the lines of … “the days were like years (there was so much packed into them), and the years were like a day (because it wasn’t long enough).”  I would take a chance, write my own eulogy, and hide it for later, but no one would ever find it with all the unmade beds.  

This Week’s Announcements:
Our next welcome reception is on Sunday, January 26th.  If you are new to StoneBridge or just want some answers to those “burning questions” you have, join us at 7:30pm in the 164 space.  Childcare is provided WITH reservations.  Contact Kim Kremer at kim@stonebridgemarietta.org to sign up.

What God is Teaching Us:
Follow the links below to see the past two Sunday’s curriculum: 
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Funny Things Kids Do and Say…
As one 4k/Kindergarten leader was reviewing Bible stories we have discussed this year, she drew pictures (like Pictionary) so the children could guess the story. After correctly guessing the story, they would discuss what they remembered about the story and God’s Truth from that story.  On one turn, she drew a large wall surrounding a city.  The kids correctly guess “Jericho!”  As they discussed what God instructed Joshua and his men to do, the leader asked, “Do you remember how many days God told them to march around the city?”  One very proud little boy yelled out, “I do…40 days and 40 nights!”  Good answer, wrong story.  Here is the well-known (although unspoken) fact among kids at church- the answer is always “God” or “40 days and 40 nights.”