A riddle today:  What do we give another with all our heart, have to work to keep it and if it’s lost is almost impossible to retrieve?

I’m proud of my children – as I’m sure you are.  If we sat together, I know it wouldn’t take 5 minutes before I started to bore you about my intelligent, good looking, well adjusted children.  They make wise decisions without any mistakes.  They’re never sick or miss a day of school.  They have the best friends who never get into any trouble.  They are destined for secure, high paying jobs and perfect families.  OK reality check!

My marriage is without fault and one of the few wonders of the modern day world.  I am without doubt the most faithful, loving, industrious, thoughtful and wonderful husband that ever walked our planet.  Not!

What’s the answer to our riddle?  TRUST.

What was wrong with each of the pictures I painted above?  All of us fail.  With each failure I lose a little of the trust my wife originally placed in me when she looked dreamily into my eyes at the marriage altar.  Each time my child makes a bad choice which I have to pay for in some way, they damage the trust I have in them.

Why is trust so important to happy homes?  How do we maintain trust in our homes?

Trust is natural for our little children.  Watch a nursing child look with total trust into his mother’s eyes.  Listen to the giggles as his father throws him in the air over and over.  But with time we are all failed.  Our trust is given cautiously.  By the time we are adults, it takes a period of months before we trust our lives to our spouses.  We continue to fail each other, break promises and cover our mistakes with lies.  Trust becomes more difficult to maintain.

Trust is essential for healthy marriages and happy homes.  Trust eliminates fear.  Real trust brings consistency of character.  Trust requires us to be open with each other and not cover things with lies.  Make promises you can keep – not quick promises that sound good but will never happen.  Discipline immediately – not by making future threats you will not keep.  Love unconditionally.  Forgive.  Do we realize that with all our failures, God trusts us so much that He hands us His precious creation (the world, its resources, our children) and says, “I trust you to do your very best.”  Can we use His example and transform our families into trusting families?

None of us are perfect as individuals – nor are our marriages perfect.  As we work together to maintain our love and a strong marriage, our homes will be a good environment for growing and happy children.