Blog »     L O V E  =  T I M E  

Wednesday, May 15, 2013  Jeff Lampl    

 

                “And I will be with you always”      Matthew 28:20  

When reading the things that another has written it’s always good to pay particular attention to the last thing  that person wrote.   Jesus’ last words centered around the word “with”.    

In raising my children I noticed that their early lives centered around that word too.    They wanted to be with us.  I suspect that most children define love in terms of “time with”.     

But “with” takes time and being inconvenienced.   It also takes effort and it takes redefining (a whole lot of “with” is doing chores, not for your child with him or her).   

God’s coming to earth to be with us  (Emmanuel) to suffer among us and to promise to be with us (Holy Spirit) is a model for parenting.    God didn’t outsource us to outside means of training.   Instead he chose to be among us, with us to show us who our Father is and how to live joyfully with Him in this difficult but good world.  

In short, when a parent sacrifices his personal time for his child (of any age) then that child spells love this way . . . t-i-m-e.    

As I look back on 27 years of parenting what stands out to me are two things.   Times with my children and ways I missed out on time with my children.     

“Lord, please give each parent reading this a renewed vision and determination for not settling for quality time rather for spending the quantity time with their children which spells out to our children the word love.    Amen”