“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8 NKJV
Faithfulness is an example of virtue, or moral excellence.
In my last post, I talked about faithfulness to God. Today I’m shining the spotlight on faithfulness to family.
Horton, the Faithful Elephant
In the children’s classic, Horton Hatches the Egg, a lazy bird convinces Horton the elephant to sit on the egg in her nest while she takes a vacation. However, the lazy bird doesn’t return.
But through long, miserable seasons of danger and discomfort, Horton remains true to his word. Several times in the story, Horton repeats this refrain:
“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.”
And –spoiler alert–in the end, the baby bird hatches, and it has ears, and a tail, and a trunk just like Horton’s.
“And it should be, it should be, it SHOULD be like that! Because Horton was faithful! He sat and he sat! He meant what he said, and he said what he meant…And they sent him home happy, one hundred percent!”
Though I’ve read this book dozens of times, the ending still makes me teary-eyed.
Examples of Faithfulness to Family
When I look for real life examples of faithfulness to family, I look to my own parents. They were not perfect people. As a young adult, I often wished they had done some things differently.
I blamed them for my lack of popularity. I think if my parents had let me have Go-Go boots like the other girls in my class, I might have fit in better. Maybe.
If they’d given me piano lessons at a young age, I might have grown up to become a concert pianist.
If they’d encouraged me to be brave, I reasoned, I might have grown up to live in exotic places all over the world and achieve great things.
But as I look back through older eyes, I see my parents’ fidelity.
My father was committed to providing for his family. Many evenings, he came home frustrated from driving in traffic, aggravated after dealing with difficult people, and tired of doing the same old thing, day after day.
I’m sure some days he wanted to just leave everything behind, get in his car, and drive as far away from his responsibilities as a tank of gas could carry him.
But he didn’t.
He was faithful to his family.
And I can still see my mother washing piles of laundry and worrying about a special needs child, squabbling kids, and a melodramatic teen (that would be me). I may have imagined this, but I think I remember her humming the old country song, “I Wish I Was Single Again.”
But she remained faithful to her family.
Rewards of Faithfulness
All parents are flawed, but in most cases the love they have for their children outweighs the multitude of mistakes they make.
I realize not everyone has faithful parents. Sometimes parents are like the lazy bird who left Horton with the egg. Some parents are abusive or totally absent. If this is your background, I hope you had a “Horton” in your life…a grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher neighbor, or adopted parent who showed you a picture of faithfulness.
And I hope you’ll be encouraged to demonstrate faithfulness to someone else who needs your care and concern.
Faithfulness has its rewards.
First and foremost, we’ll experience joy when we hear our Savior say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)
But we have rewards on this side of heaven, too.
My parents didn’t ask for much in return for their faithfulness. I hope at the end of their lives, Mama and Daddy were pleased to see their kids had grown up to become fairly decent human beings. I know they loved their grandkids and would have been just as proud of the great grandkids if they had lived long enough to meet them. The lessons they taught about love, hard work, and faithfulness seem to have trickled down to future generations.
When we do the hard things, when we don’t give up on the people we love, and they grow and thrive because of our efforts…like Horton, we go home happy, one hundred percent.
Photos courtesy of Jairo Gonzalez, Ty Downs, Jametlene Reskp, and Lauren Lulu Taylor on Unsplash.