Singing your song

Last night I taught a class at church, on the importance of having Family Night. I loved preparing for it, because once again it reminded me that we can not take our family's for granted. We need to provide a home that is safe and that has a sure foundation. Taking one day a week to devote to being together as a family is important. We have always had Family Night with our kids, and they actually looked forward to it. It is a special time and a time to reinforce our love for each other, and also our values and beliefs. Yes, I believe it made all the difference in the world.
Now don't get me wrong, there were times when our Family Nights didn't turn out too successful. Attitudes were bad or someone didn't want to participate. But all in all, I am grateful we did it, week after week. I found this story and I loved it. What a powerful message it was about helping each of us remember who we are, and that we are loved. Read it and see what you think?

They're Singing Your Song 

When a woman in a certain African tribe knows
she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness
with a few friends and together they pray and
meditate until they hear the song of the child.
They recognize that every soul has its own vibration
that expresses its unique flavor and purpose. When
the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. 
Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone
else.

When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child's song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child's song. When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come
together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song.
Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person's bed, just as they did at their birth, and they sing the person to the next life.
To the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community
form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.
The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.
A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.
You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn't. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well.
You may feel a little unsteady at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you'll find your way home.

http://www.inspirationpeak.com/shortstories/singingyoursong.html

"It's surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you're not comfortable within yourself, you can't be comfortable with others."  ~ Sidney J. Harris

"The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else."
~E. E. Cummings

"You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."  ~Desmond Tutu