Traces of Gold

As in water face reflects face, so a man's heart reveals the man.
(Proverbs 27:19)

In conversation with a co-worker the other day the subject of picking up some of the traits of our parents came up. After a few minutes of pondering this on my own, I discovered that I am a mirror image of my father and grandfather. Some good traits and some bad ones as well.

In high school I had no interest in fixing things mechanically or construction wise so I shied away from any and all shop classes. I did however spend time helping dad and gramps fix things so I must have learned something through them. I now sometimes spend an afternoon fixing things that go awry in the office at work. I am amazed at how I am able to confidently decipher what is wrong and fix it without any knowledge whatsoever of what the heck I am doing!
My work ethic, as well as both of my brothers, are the spittin' image of our father's. So I guess growing up in a blue collar family has it's advantages.

On the spiritual side I've surprisingly picked up the traits of my grandfather. Or should I say, inherited them. My grandfather was a great, bold and boisterous preacher who remained faithful in the hard times and so eloquently went about the business of being a mirrored reflection of his Heavenly Father. A trait God expects in all of us.

I think all of us can remember at one time or another maybe confessing, "I'll never be like my parents were!" These confessions obviously coming during our teenage years when we thought we knew everything and our parents didn't know anything.
Some of you may have endured hard times with parents who had problems of their own and may have subsequently taken them out on you. But if you can take that negative image of your parents and turn it into a positive one for your life and those of your own family, then those hard times had it's reward.

Einstein once said, "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."

Sometimes life's greatest lessons are learned not through school, but through life in general.

When Diana Ross sang about reflections of the way life used to be she was reflecting on memories of a life full of: tears, hurt, lost love, and was left with just that, only memories.


When you look into the mirror you should not only see a reflection of who you are, but what you've become. And if you feel like you haven't become the person you want to be, well, it's never too late to turn that reflection into a positive one.