We are talking about the blessing this week in church. My conviction is that we are all called to be a blessing all around us. That plays out most in our own homes.
I came across this post and thought I would share. As I think this week about the nature of being a blessing, it has occurred to me that I don't have to be a brilliant father., but a father who takes advantage of little moments.
http://realgreglee.com/2012/03/08/one-thing-i-do-right-as-a-dad-that-you-can-do-too/
One thing I do right as a Dad…that you can do too.
I’m trying to be a great Dad, but it is a learning process for me every day. Some things come instinctively from having a great Dad myself (a HUGE blessing in my life). Other things aren’t so natural.
I think the best thing we have done is create meaningful one-on-one time with the kids. I work a lot of evenings with meetings and I like to get started early in the mornings so we had to be creative. For us, we take advantage of Wednesday mornings. Here’s how it practically works for us:
-Our kids school starts 1/2 hour later on Wednesdays. Not totally sure why, but we use it!
-I work Wednesdays straight through the evening until late, so I don’t go in until 9am those days.
-We rotate weekly the pair that gets to go out for breakfast – one adult/one child. Today was me and Jackson.
-That adult/child pair goes to breakfast from 7:30-8:45am – Kids choose the restaurant.
-The other adult/child pair stays home with kids from the neighborhood who get on the bus with our kids.
-Jenny works one Wednesday a month so we just skip that one. (You can’t get to hung up on making a system work perfectly.)
With me, Jackson usually goes for a cinnamon roll at Panera. Today we talked about baptism and his LifeBuilding Class at church and then drew some designs for how to paint his pinewood derby car (pictured). This is priceless to me.
Abby likes McDonalds where she and I split the “Big Breakfast with Hotcakes” and sit at the same table she picks out. Every. Single. Time. She loves watching the “M” on the butter melt on her biscuit and making me eat the eggs “because they are gross”.
These goofy memories become the stories we tell. The only reason I share it is that I hope you’ll find your own way to do it too. Figure it out. Create the time and space. We get a lot wrong as parents, but we are knocking this out of the park!
I think it's totally the little moments and also the little maybe mundane things that mean the most. I remember growing up my mom and dad always had their own time with each of us whether it was taking us to the swap-meet for a bagel and cream cheese or to the grocery store on Saturday morning for some powdered donuts. I remember this like it was just yesterday and I think back on it often and know how much of a blessing that was for me and still is. Now that I have my own child, I love the time I can spend with him...his morning cereal and bottle and when he gets older maybe I'll pass on the bagel and cream cheese tradition. Its amazing how much the little things have a lasting impression on us. I pray for the parents, however, who are self absorbed in their own personal needs that they miss out on all the perfect blessings that God wants to provide to them and their child.
ReplyDelete