There is a great deal of comfort for me in today’s psalm—Psalm 16—in which we sing, You are my inheritance, O Lord. My husband and I have made decisions about our family’s lifestyle that affect what our kids’ inheritance will look like. I’ve chosen to stay home with our children rather than work; he’s chosen to teach rather than work in the much more lucrative world of computer programming. That one salary spread out over five kids means that we know they can’t expect a huge monetary gift from us someday. So, I hope that we can give them a different kind of inheritance—one that “will not pass away” with the things of this world.

We know that Christ will not abandon us; we know that our joy is in him. My dear mothers, the best inheritance we can give our children is the seed of a relationship with Christ. Reading Scripture, praying with them, singing with them, taking them to Mass and adoration, letting them see our own turning to God in times of need and joy—all these are seeds planted, waiting for God to touch them and help them grow. No matter our work situations, this inheritance can be passed along now.

So be encouraged! “We know neither the day nor the hour,” but we know our goal. Every little thing we do to share Christ with our children counts. Every squiggly prayer before meals. Every blessing at night. Every time we coax our teenagers out of bed for Mass. Every time our children see us reading Scripture or a spiritual book, every saint story we tell them—each one makes an impression. This is the inheritance we all give our children. We can’t decide what they do with it, but we can make sure it is there when they need it.

Guiding God’s children to encounter him is an enormous, humbling task. But Christ is our inheritance, too. He will “show us the path of life”; he will not abandon us. It is with him and through him that we will find the “fullness of joys.” So let our hearts be glad! Christ walks with us and our little ones, this day and always, until the end of time.