Charlotte

We have seen several huge spiders and webs around here since fall arrived and the plants and back yard are all finished. 
 The other day when Lena was at our home, I showed her one of the webs that stretched between the corner of the house and a bush 8 feet away. Lena then asked her insightful question of the afternoon, " Where is Charlotte?" 

I thought, "What a cute little granddaughter. Her Mom must read to her for her to know who Charlotte even is. Good job!"

Not a great picture of said spider web.

It got me thinking about a quote that I read referenced from the popular book. It is Charlotte talking about her children and how important they are to her.

..Charlotte from Charlotte's Web:

 "My Egg sac (her children) "My magnum opus, my great work, the finest thing I have ever made. Inside are my eggs, five hundred and fourteen of them. I counted them. I got started counting, so I kept on, just to keep my mind occupied. I guarantee it is strong. It's made out of the toughest material I have ."
                            - Charlotte explaining to Wilbur about her work.

Our children...are our "magnum opus. Our great work!"  Whether they come out rotten and drive us crazy:-), perfect and drive us crazy, or just as "our kids" and make us better people, they are our "Magnum Opus!"…

How do we protect them? What is the toughest material we have? Is it love? testimony? example?
Those precious children sometimes become so protected that they can't grow and develop for themselves. Unlike Charlotte's children, ours are never allowed to fall from the top and see if they can catch themselves.

I feel like I have armed some of my "great works" with good strong testimonies, questioning minds, prayerful hearts, and self esteem. With these same tools of strength, some of them have acquired these strengths of mine in lesser amounts. Hopefully they will continue to grow as I do and as they assist those around them to be their best.

We all can, with the help of our Lord, eventually be a Magnum Opus.