Facing Reality

     When Reed and I thought about having children, there were certain realities we had to face, there was only so much genetic material to work with. It was not out of the realm of possibility that our offspring might be intelligent, but probably not Nobel prize winners. They might be good looking (if they didn't take too much after us), but were unlikely to be on magazine covers. Being tall would require genetic material from a previous generation, ditto for athleticism. If they became rich, it would not be from their inheritance. I was not afraid of having a special needs child because I grew up with one and it is just another thing. You deal with it. I told the Lord I wasn't sure I could handle a chronically ill child and am thankful I did not have to find out.
     From Reed's side of the family, at least one of our children was likely to have poor vision. Easy solution for that--glasses. From my side, three of us four siblings had crooked teeth. That problem is also easy, if expensive, to fix--braces. Also from my side, scoliosis. Although none of our children developed a noticeable curvature, our daughter has hip dysplasia. And from both sides of the family, it was likely one of our children would be an alcoholic.
     But for addiction we had no plan. Of course, a lot would depend on when and where the addiction happened. Montana has limited resources and adult children have to choose to fight addiction for themselves. We hoped that growing up in an alcohol free home, as we had, would provide some protection. Our children would know how to have fun without alcohol. And of course, we hoped they would take to heart what the Bible says about drunkenness. But, the reality is, we cannot control what our children will face. In this case DNA stands for Do Not Assume. Do not assume our children will respond to parental programming as if they were machines. All of us have genetic predispositions, sin natures and exposure to temptation. So you would think when reality rears its ugly head, we would recognize the face.