The Things We Pass On

I think that one of the first things that most parents do when they look at their child, after checking for all the digits, is to decide who gave what...nose,eyes,hair color, ears, toes, ect.....For instance, with Sam, he got my nose for sure and George's everything else... But today at the eye Doctor I discovered I had passed on one other thing to my son. Apparently I have given him a wonky eye that even I didn't know I had. Don't ask me the name because I forgot it as soon as the Dr. said it, but it's apparently like being left handed in the eye world. It's a condition where the optical portion refracts light on the opposite side that it's supposed to and gives the illusion that the eye is slightly off center. ..WHO KNEW....go figure..of all things to pass down. I just started laughing because there are so many things that you can pass on and not even know it and I am most certainly glad that it was nothing serious. This got me thinking....not just about the physical things that we pass on to our children but everything..What is our "mantle" that we will pass to Sam....I hope that we pass on strong character and morals..fierce independence...strong will...fighting spirit...a deep love for God and family..and then I thought ...what will he pass on to us...hopefully he will forgive me for the wonky eye...I might not even tell him....he'll never know...hey I didn't until today. We have such an awesome responsiblilty as parents to teach our children to be better than we are..I don't care if he's rich or handsome...although thank God he is....but those things aren't what matter most to me...What matters most is that he loves God with all he has and that he lives his life how God wants him to...that he is kind, but doesn't let people run him over...a leader, but not so much that he becomes arrogant or thinks he knows it all.. I just want him to be a good man...a Godly man...a light in the darkness...I think that he's well on his way.