Fathers- One hundre ripples

In the spring I went on a field trip to Sabino Canyon. One of the nature guides was describing how the Daddy Robin bird has a red chest and his job is to distract other birds of prey away from his family's nest.  He told the group that is what Dads do. ...and I audibly said that's what good Dads do.

My blog is my journal. On good weeks I pick a highlight to talk about so that I can remember. On bad weeks I forget. Most of my writings are positive because it's better to think of happy things. But I occasionally write about struggles too because I don't want to forget what I learned from those times or how it shaped me and my family.  My kids will often go back and search topics so that they can remember the funny story, family lore or trial that was overcome. I don't want to whitewash my history and there are personal things that I will probably never write about but when it affects my whole family I feel it is important to include it because it informed our present and future.

In February Benjamin's father, Ron, called him up to tell him that he was leaving his wife, Benjamin's mother, for another woman. After 54 years of marriage and a lifetime of Barbara's service he was declaring his moral bankruptcy. He said it was nothing that she had done, and the whole family of 73 members can agree on that. The ripple this has had in our family is a hinge point in time for us. We have been rocked to our core. One of my daughters said the very ground beneath her feels unsteady. The cowardly way this was done is another witness to his character. Barbara's character has also shown. She has been left to face everyone in their former life together she alone as had to explain his absence. She has born their utter shock and dismay. She has boldly put her shoulders back and attended, church, graduations, plays because she has always magnified her fidelity to her family. My kids bring this up daily and it has been over 4 months. Benjamin sadly does not bring this up and has not really missed him because he has seen his father's example from a young age and has actively sought council from men with integrity and honor. 

I hope this post is one my family can look back on and see how Grandma overcame one of the hardest trials a person can endure. She did it by putting one foot in front of the other, with her family army beside her and with her eyes to her Savior for deliverance and peace.

Her ripples are the ones to be felt for eternity.

This is one of the poems my previous kinders had memorized and would recite. I loved explaining it's meaning:

One Hundred Ripples, author unknown 

Drop a stone into the water in a moment it is gone.

But there are a hundred ripples circling on and on and on.

Say an unkind word this moment in a moment it is gone. But there are a hundred ripples circling on and on and on.

Say a word of cheer and splendor in a moment it is gone. But there are a hundred ripples circling on and on and on.