These Are My Jewels

For Mother's Day, TJ made this beautiful necklace featuring a picture of each of the kids.  I love it so much.  It reminds me of the story of Cornelia Scipionis Africana, who refused the Roman crown in favor of educating her children, two of whom turned out to be great statesmen.  When other women asked her about her relatively simple adornments, she called her two sons to her and, motioning to them, replied, "These are my jewels."

These kids are my jewels.  They're my trips to Europe.  They're my advanced degree in Literature. They're my gorgeous clothes and sporty car.  They're hours of free time for yoga, reading, and lounging by the pool.  They're the pool, too.

The Lord's parable of the treasure in the field is so perfect here:  a man discovered a treasure in a field, and knowing how valuable the treasure was, he sold everything he had in order to buy the field and obtain the treasure.  He counted the cost and knew it was worth the sacrifice.  Of course, the Lord was talking about the treasure of the gospel being worth any sacrifice it required.

But one principle of the gospel is that our families should be our top priority in this life.  It means that we had two kids before TJ graduated college, and that I never did graduate college.  This means that when everyone told TJ he should go into opera, he instead chose a career that would ensure he could spend time with his kids.  This means that we conserve money in every way imaginable in order for me to be at home with the kids.

We've paid a lot for these jewels.  And they're worth it.