"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted!"
Garrison Keillor
I got an e-mail today, from my precious friend, Barb, and it is so good, I just HAVE to share it with you!
Here is something absolutely positive for a change. Having repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, it was nice to see for the first time, the rewards listed in this way. It's nice.... !
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth
to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about
price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is: don't have children
if you want to be 'rich'.
Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how
your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up.
You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars..
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets
and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in
clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to
be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice
cream regardless.
You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree,
and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called
grandchildren and great- grandchildren.
You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice,
communications, and human sexuality that no college can match..
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the
power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a
broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them
without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the
cost.
That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!
Love & enjoy your children, grandchildren, & great-grandchildren!!!!!!!It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!!!!!!!
time of my life! lol Literally, I really don't have ANY clue WHEN this picture was taken, but what I DO remember is that we were at Aunt Mickie and Uncle Ed's house in Cranford, NJ. Oh, how I LOVED going there! :> ) They are two of the most wonderful people you would ever want to meet. 
We ask you, precious Father, to hold them close, to embrace them within your hands and to grant them peace. We ask you Lord, to watch over all that have loved them, and to comfort those left behind. We ask you Lord to allow us to understand that although they are gone from us, they will live with You forever. And that because of Your grace, we shall be with them again one day~
