conversations

A few days after the SFC Family Conference, over dinner my brother and got to talking about our parents, our childhood and how we are now as adults.

He knew I went to an SFC Conference but I haven’t been able to tell him about the details of the conference as I didn’t know how to open the topic up. That night however it was he who initiated the conversation.

Born to middle class working parents who married at a very young age, we grew up living in austerity. With the constant need to prove themselves to their families, my parents choose to work their butts off, live simply and hold on to their pride rather than take handouts if it meant people telling them ‘I told you so’.

With working parents we are left to handle our household as soon as we were old enough to. They gave us chores and limited our play time because they wanted us to learn the value of hard work and responsibility.

They didn’t spoil us with extravagant toys and making our own from scrap materials helped developed our creativity, resourcefulness and frugality.

As we grew older, our parents drilled us with sermons about the importance of studying hard and keeping our grades up.

They were strict about curfews and going out with friends and were especially strict with me. Knowing full well how difficult it is to raise a family, I guess they wanted to protect us from going astray or getting into a relationship before we were ready and made sure we put our studies at the top of our priority.

Like what had been discussed in the conference, we acknowledged that there were several factors that influenced the way our parents raised us.

Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t always obedient children who understood and appreciated what our parents are doing. They are times were voices were raised, tantrums were thrown and doors slammed shut.

We could have easily rebelled and defied their rules but we choose to work past these issues and be someone our parents could be proud of, and as my brother summed it up “we are what we are because of our parents”.

It was one of those few sombre and profound conversations we have and I am thankful I got to slowly introduce and share SFC activities with by brother. It was remarkable how I was able to bounce off and share ideas and thoughts with him in line with the conference details without coming off too preachy or melodramatic.

And for this may God be praised!!!