In the Bible, a number of times, it is stated that the sins of the father will be felt for three generations. I intend to not let that happen. I never met my grandfather and my Dad went through life pretty sinless. As was the custom in England when they were born, however, both my father and my mother had all of their teeth removed when they turned 21 and they were replaced with dentures. Because of that, they were perhaps not as tuned in as they should have been to the importance of going to the dentist and regular dental care and as a child, I sure wasn’t going to say, “Hey, let’s go to the dentist”.
Hence, my history of bad dental experience stories, the most recent of which was Christmas Eve morning. This story actually began at Thanksgiving when for some unknown reason, I had a really bad toothache in one of my front teeth, continued on my birthday on December 8th when one of my teeth cracked while eating dinner and culminated by having a root surgically removed from that tooth which by this time had broken off completely.
So as I sat in the dentist’s office with my 3 year old Grace watching because she wanted to go to take care of me, I kept thinking, this will never happen to her. In addition, the $320.00 bill was a huge blow to our budget and I felt very remorseful that I had to spend that money on me because I hadn’t pursued regular dental care.
How does this relate to you? Are you overweight? Are you sedentary? Are you unhealthy or have lifestyle pursuits that will either impact your health or shorten your lifespan? Are these “sins” that will impact your children? Will your health care expenses impact their quality of life? Will your physical condition impact how you can interact with your children in terms of playing with them or doing activities or sports with them? Will you die at an earlier age because you smoke or drink or from an obesity related health problem?
The sin of my father was not insisting that I get good dental care and it was a matter of ignorance and certainly not intentional. Although I exercise regularly, eat organically and have no lifestyle “sins”, my dental problems are directly impacting my children and that “sin” ended on Christmas Eve when I saw the deeply concerned look on my daughter’s face.
The sins of this father will not afflict my children to even one generation and I hope that you begin thinking of your children, too, by focusing on your own health and your fitness. Start an exercise program today, eat to fuel your body’s activities and bring your body to an ideal weight. If you drink, drink in moderation. If you smoke, quit today. If you don’t get regular medical check ups and dental check ups, start making them a priority your life. Preventive medicine and a healthy lifestyle will clear your conscience and assure that your “sins” of the body will not afflict you or your children.
