The Triumph of Life

Success.

It means different things to different people.

Some aim for success financially, in business, in sports, and in all other kinds of pursuits.

I don’t mind someone having success in those areas. Truth be told, I’d like to have some success show up in my bank account. Who wouldn’t?

There has to be a balance, though.

If a person was only successful in business or sports, but their home was a wreck, and the spouse only cared about the Jaguar in the garage, or the size of the diamond on the gold band, then I wouldn’t consider that success.

Or if the children cared only about the trinkets and toys, without a thought about the one who gave them, then that wouldn’t register on my success meter.

There isn’t anything wrong with possessing wealth in the material sense. But it is all about being well-balanced.

One might be able to give their family the entire world. But can you give them all of you?

I believe we ought to provide the best we can. We ought to encourage teamwork, discipline, and motivation. But to succeed in only one area of life isn’t really succeeding at all.

I do believe, however, that if I was to only succeed in one area, it should be in the spiritual. And family is spiritual. Family is an institution ordained by God Himself at the beginning of time.

I should succeed in my relationship with God and in the areas in which God has placed importance.

Tonight, we gathered around the table for dinner. Son #1 wanted to pray. And what he prayed hit me straight in the heart.

We joined hands, and he prayed, “God, thank You for this food. Bless it. And thank you so much for my wonderful family who loves me.”

I looked over at him, his eyes were still closed, and he had the most contented smile on his face that I’ve ever seen.

He doesn’t have his own bedroom with a bathroom. He shares a room. He doesn’t have expensive toys, or very many. I doubt I’ll ever be able to provide him with a fifteen-room home or a Tigé RZX3 in a boat dock at a lake house.

But tonight, I read two different books to him and his brother — at the same time. It was chaotic, but they didn’t seem to care. Later, he walked over to me and said he wanted to sit in the recliner with me.

And he knows that we love him.

And if he always knows that his daddy loved him and took time for him, and if he always remembers to put God first in his life:

That’s what I call Success.

to the well-balanced,
– Caleb