ARE YOU BUILDING TO LAST?

Years ago, our family had the opportunity to spend several weeks in Venice, Italy.  Venice is a city rich in both history and architecture.  We visited the Mirano Glass Factory.  We ate lunch many times in the Piazza San Marco, and watched in amazement as pigeons landed all over Jenni.  We saw magnificent feats of architecture, such as the Rialto Bridge (created by Antonio da Ponte in 1588), the Bridge of Sighs (built by Antonio Contino, nephew of Antonio da Ponte, in 1600), San Marco Basilica (originally built in the 9th Century and housed the remains John Mark, one of four disciples of Jesus Christ who were chosen to give us one of the four Gospel accounts.  Though the architect is unknown, it stands as a grand structure even today).  We toured the Doges Palace and walked from the interrogation rooms there, across the Bridge of Sighs (which crosses the Rio di Palazzo), to the Prison.   It was this “crossing” that caused the Bridge of Sighs to gain its name.  While riding the gondolas, we passed the birth place of Marco Polo. These are just a few of the structures that immediately come to mind as I think about that unforgettable trip.  Yet, there were so many other things we saw that were just as old, and just as amazing that I can’t name.  And though the architects of many of these structures are unknown, these structures stand hundreds of years later as a testament of their work.

As we celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday, I thought about what our daughters and daugther-in-law were building in our grandchildren.  As a parent, I know that much of what they do behind the scenes may never be known to those on the outside.  Much of what they do will go unrecognized.  Yet, though you and I may never know their sacrifices or the work they are doing to build up those little cathedrals God has entrusted to their care – God Himself knows.

Matthew 7:24-27 (KJV) says:

²⁴ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  ²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” 

My prayer for our children and grandchildren, and for your children and your grandchildren is that as we are building these young hearts and minds, that we are building them to last, to stand the test of time, to weather the storms that will come in their lives.  To do that, we have to ensure that we begin on the right foundation.  And if we do, when our lives are done, may they say of us, “. . .  Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”