Foundations

There is no substitute for a good foundation. True of houses, true of lawns, and true of human beings.

I have learned this lesson by trying to fix peoples' lawns. People ask me to fix their lawns when they are not doing so well. The first thing I find out is whether or not it was installed correctly in the first place. This one factor, more than anything else, will tell me what is wrong with their lawn and what I am going to be able to do about it. Specifically, what I want to know is, when the lawn was first installed, was there adequate topsoil installed first? This is an all important question, because we live in Nevada. If you plant a lawn, either by seed or by sod, here in Nevada, and you do not first add six to eight inches of topsoil, then you are wasting your time. However, I see it done all the time. Then people ask me to come fix their lawn.

Now, to be sure, there are plenty of things that can be done to help a lawn that is struggling because it was planted right on the hardpack. You can aerate it regularly, you can fertilize, you can add many amendments that will break up the soil and change its composition, etc. But you will have to do these things constantly, and it's going to cost you a lot of time and money, for as long as you have the lawn.

On the other hand, if a lawn is put in correctly from the start, with a nice thick layer of good soil, and watered correctly, it is going to grow well and be much more healthy. This is because its roots are going to have plenty of room to go deep, and deep roots are the key to a healthy lawn. A lawn with deep roots is able to survive anything: pests, animals, freezes, droughts, disease-- a lawn with deep roots can survive it all.

So here is the parallel that I want to draw. Lawns are just like people.

God made kids so kidlike for a reason. When I say kidlike, I am referring specifically to their impressionability, malleability, their willingness to follow, etc. Kids are like sponges; they soak up everything around them. Again, they are like this for a reason. The reason is so that they can learn to be loved, learn to trust, learn to be responsible, etc. The reason is so that a good foundation can be laid, for the first 18 years or so, that will support them for the next 80 years or so. With a good foundation, a person will thrive and be healthy for the rest of their life. They will be naturally immune to pests, (spiritually), antagonists, (physically) diseases, (spiritually and physically), and all other dangers which can potentially befall a person. With deep roots, a person will thrive indefinitely. Without deep roots, because there is no foundation, a human being will be more susceptible to disease, attack, etc.

The point to all of this is, again, the infinite importance of teaching your kids how to receive love and love, how to trust, and, as they get older, how to be responsible and how to be free. These things are the four cornerstones of a good foundation for a human life.