We all have a fire to tend. It burns inside of us.
A good fire is welcoming. It draws people in to hear your stories, or enjoy the comfort of your good company.
Sometimes your fire burns too strong. On days like that, your family doesn’t know whether to approach you at all. You’re giving off such impressive though forbidding heat.
On other days you just can’t seem to get it started. There’s something about the weather that makes it hard for you to kindle the ember of life into a heart-warming flame. You have no warmth at your core. You freeze and might have to ask for help to bring your hearth back to life.
One busy day you might carelessly put a wet log onto the embers. A thick smoke blows in all directions. Nobody around that fire can sit still for very long. Some want to stay, but have to hide their faces in their hands to keep from tearing up.
Your child also has a fire within–she looks to you to teach her the art of tending it well. At the end of every day, you could ask her, “Honey, how is your fire burning? What has made it smoky today? When has it burned well?”
With time and experience, she will learn to take responsability for her own hearth. She’ll be able to tell good wood from bad, and how to stay warm under any condition.