Everybody is different

I do the best I can. I want to be the best I can be. I am not a perfect Christian. I never was a perfect parent. I obviously wasn't a good husband, I've been divorced 4 times. But I keep trying. I learned not to quit. In times past I got discouraged and quit. I learned there are no perfect people, there are no perfect Christians. No perfect Parents or Grandparents. If I have done something right, it is when I tried to follow God to the best of my ability. I can give a lot of advice, but lots of people don't want to hear it. I didn't, and I think back of the trouble I could have avoided had I been willing to listen to some of these older people.  My fifth try at marriage seems to be working, I have been married this time almost as long as I was to the last three combined. I think I learned some things. I believe I am a better husband than I was in my first marriage. I recently had a difficult phone call with my son. Once again I learned some things about myself and about him. If he didn't love me, he wouldn't have been so hurt by a careless word of mine. I really did figure he cared less, the only time he has contacted me in the last ten years was when he needed something.  But that is really quite normal for the next generation. We try to make things better for our children and sometimes it makes things worse. I did believe in spare the rod and spoil the child. His mother tried to be his friend. So most of the time if their was any disciplining to do, it fell on me. I can tell you today, parents need to be together, they need to be a team. If not it is the children that get hurt. I saw an article in the newspaper about rules for raising children, it was really quite simple. I threw the paper away so I cannot go back and look for it. I do remember the person saying it is OK to say: "because I said so" to your kids. I am not alone in this world with having trouble with grown kids. I do love them, but they are grown and making their own decisions now. All I can do is continue to pray for them, and I will probably be doing that for as long as I live. I hope they are better parents than I was. I hope they will learn to trust God in everything. I have some relatives that are a lot farther down the road then I am. I am almost 62, but I recently told one of my favorite Uncles that when I grow up, I want to be just like him. He has a sweet spirit about him and I love to see him every chance I get. I would bet , if you talked to him he wasn't perfect either, but he learned to trust God. He still has that faith, he doesn't walk as fast anymore, he looks shorter than he used to. I really like his sweet spirit and that is what I want to copy.  That's what we need to do,  find somebody on this journey through life and copy them as they copy Christ.  Church has been a big part of my life. I kept going to church even in the bad times when I was going through a divorce. You know, God hates divorce, but he loves me. God hates sin but he loves me. God has been disappointed with some of the bad decisions I made in life, but he loves me.  You know how I know? The Bible tells me so, just like the song I learned in Sunday School so long ago. Yes Jesus loves me, As I write this I can hear Whitney Houston singing.  Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.   God bless, LVZ.