The 3 most important things

I have a confession to make. I'm a 'Little House on the Prairie' fan. Now I was going to admit to being a 'Little House' junkie, but , the truth of the matter is, I don't get to watch that show very often. Don't get me wrong - I love it, but in a house where sports, one tree hill and sitcom reruns dominate the TV, I usually get outvoted when I turn the channel to PBS and 'Little house' is on. Only on very rare occassions - like the sighting of sasquach and a solar eclipse - do I get the TV to myself to watch something uninterupted. And only a fraction of that time is 'Little House' even on. So it was with great excitement last night, that I snuck into the TV room while Brian was teaching his class, and the children were preoccupied, and turned the channel to KBYU to discover that there was actually an episode of 'Little House' on! I felt like a kid on Christmas! I got that childhood excitement that makes you giggle from the inside. I prayed I could finish the entire episode - and my prayers were answered! It was an actual miracle!

The reason I am blogging about this is because it was an episode where Carolyn (the mom) had stayed up all night sewing new dresses for the girls with the material that was meant for herself, so that the girls could read their essays at school in their new dresses. The girls were exstatic - I remembered how excited I had been to watch 'Little House' and it didn't even compare. Then Laura (middle child) told her essay to the class and how her 'Ma' was the best Ma in the whole world and why. When 'Ma' realized Laura's essay had come from her heart, and was not written on paper, she confronted Laura and they both went in to Miss Beatle to confess. Miss Beatle promptly forgave Laura and complimented her on the few words that were written on the paper. Then the whole family walked home, hand in hand. Watching this show made me realize how far we have strayed from this vision of 'ideal'. There was no complaining that there were no new shoes to go with the new dresses, or that the family had to walk to and from school. There was no one telling Ma to look out for herself and that she deserved that material. There were no ipods or cell phones or video games to interfere with the family. And no one even wondered about Laura's self esteem when her error was realized. There was no arguing about who should get breakfast for the family, or squabbling about whose essay was better. Now, I realize that TV often portrays unrealistic situations, but what if this was an actual day in the actual life of a little girl a hundred and some odd years ago. The three most important things were God, a plot of land and family. I have been thinking how things have changed. And how they change so slowly that it's almost imperceivable. Boy how I would like to get back to the basics like that again. Don't get me wrong - I could go without the malaria, and the dysentary. But to be without all of the distractions would be heaven. Then, when I start thinking of what the 3 most important things in my life are, maybe things haven't changed so much afterall. What are the 3 most important things in your life?