Secretly Seen by All

A woman in our church today shared something in her talk that I have thought about all day.  She was talking about joining a weight loss group and how one of their quotes was, “Whatever you eat secretly in your home is still seen by all”.  I thought about how true that is with the habits and examples that are set in the home, and then reflected out in public.  We think no one will see, but the things we do, become parts of who we are.

I am anal about my kids saying thank you during and after meals.  Food around here doesn’t drop down like manna from Heaven.  It takes work to buy it and then more work to prepare it AND then even more work to clean it all up.  My family needs to recognize and appreciate the meals that they have been given.  They are WONDERFUL about showing this type of gratitude.  Even for the meals that they don’t find favorable, they still will say thank you for some aspect of it.  AND it’s not just me that gets the praise either, if someone helped make a salad, dessert or even a drink, it is recognized.  If we go out to eat, Stephen is always being praised by all for taking us out.  Our family LOVES food and we try to always be grateful for it!  Now this is something we do “here in our home”.

YET, it has become a habit for my kids to show gratitude when they are outside of our home.    Time and time again I have been told by friends, teachers, and people how mannerly my kids are.  My kids probably aren’t even thinking twice about it, they are just in the habit of doing it.  A habit that was started in the home and now is seen by others.

The problem herein lies, that bad habits can be picked up at home as well.  And heaven only knows we have quite a few of those around here too.  The things done in our homes are never really secret.  They are pieces of what makes us who we are on the inside AND on the outside.