First Things Second

There are some things that are also First. But, in order to be First they need to be Second. These are things of this world. As already stated ... God must be First. That's why First Things First is a reality. If God is first then in His Grace he maybe will give you something that, after God, is part of your "First Love".

Such is my good and blessed fortune in the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, incarnate in the flesh always now and ever and unto the ages of ages, known as Our Lord Jesus Christ - God in the flesh - Theanthropos - God-Man.
I was once taught that we should be convinced of the love God has for us by what He has given to us. Since He has given us Himself in Our Lord Jesus Christ why do we trouble ourselves (but, let me be first to state that I am part of those called in Matthew 6:30, "ye of little faith") with the thought that God will not give us the lesser things in life which He can raise up to Himself and in so doing make the category of First Things Second? God has given to me four second things to be first. These are my flesh and blood children. And, I can hear you again saying "How can a Monk have children?" I said in my profile I would explain further so this seems like a good place.
Some monks are made monks after they were not monks. Our incarnate God - Jesus Christ our Lord is recorded in 19th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew as teaching the following:

8) He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9) And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. 10) His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 11) But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 12) For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Now do you understand how a monk can have children? I am am Idiorhythmic Monk anyway. I am not Cenobitic. Both are valid forms of Orthodox Christian monasticism. But I digress. We were discussing children and God. In Psalm 126 of the Septuagint(LXX) [127 in KJV] it states plainly:

3) Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4) As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5) Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

So ... Blessed and thrice blessed am I for what follows. For in and of God I am allowed to start as the first of my photos the First Things Second ... the contents of my quiver:

ALEXIS______________________ SERAPHIMA

LEFT TO RIGHT
Alexis Leverentivich Ignatius Eldred---
Seraphima Leverentievna Eugenia Irene---
Alexandra Levrentievna Francis Xenia---
Shaunna Leverentievna Ioanna Maxima Marie---
Hieromonk Father Lawrence---

SHAUNNA_____________________________________ ALEXANDRA
All Pictures Taken The Same Day
October 10/23, 1999

And so a happy father am I. Yes! But WHAT A SHOCK! Our children do not always fit into our fantasies. They don't always provide us with the "perfect little family." They don't always fit in with our schemes and plans. And the worst thing about them is that we simply can't get them shaped up the way we want them and expect them to stay that way.
When our children were born they were given to us by God as part of a process that continues in one form or another for the rest of our lives (and theirs). Somehow we seemed to have missed the concept that parenting is an intimate interactive process that continues the rest of all our lives.
When we stop trying to make our children fit into our fantasies of who they should be, we can begin to see who they are! This I learned from a book by Anne Schaef.

We are Co-Creators with God. God has actually given us the power to create life with Him. But just as our first parents were given free will when they were created ... with this free will they disobeyed God. They refused to fast which led to other horrors and, as a consequence of their fall, there resulted a change to the nature of their being. So also our nearest relatives, our flesh and blood children are given free will to do as they wish. Our children are not our little toys. They grow up and become responsible for themselves before God. So we must pray for our children and we can not continue to boss them as we did while they were still living with us. Our Holy Father Seraphim of Platina in Northern California during his earthly life translated for us the words of St. Theophan the Recluse. The following are words at the end to the introduction of St. Theophan's profound book THE PATH TO SALVATION .
"Is it remarkable that there are so few who are being saved among those who have led a bad youth? This example more clearly than anything else indicates in what great danger is the person who has not received good rules in his youth and has not beforehand dedicated himself to God.
What good fortune therefore it is to receive a good, truly Christian upbringing, to enter with it into the years of youth, and then in the same spirit to enter into the years of adulthood."