Family Matters: Five More Minutes

Wisdom Nuggets: "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any"

"Children are a gift from the Lord, a reward from a mother's womb.4 A young man's son are like the arrows in a soldier's hand"

There was a time, and maybe still is, when you might hear a parent say something about wanting to provide a "better life" for their children. A better life than what they (the parent) had growing up. And by better life, they mean - a bigger house, more and nicer cars, and more stuff. And I'm wondering is the next generation going to try to build a better life for their children - and by better life would they mean - maybe a smaller house or apartment, fewer and not so nice cars, less stuff - but more time together as a family because they will work fewer jobs, or a jobs that pay less but allow them work less and be home more? It's not so difficult to realize that life is all about making priorities, and family is the one and only priority on top of all other, so spend all the time you can with your children, while you still have the chance because they crave it- like I did while growing up.

While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground. "That's my boy over there," she said smiling, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.  "He's a fine looking boy" the man said. "That's my daughter on the bike in the white dress" Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter. "What do you say we go, Melissa?", "Just five more minutes, Dad, please? Just five more minutes" The man nodded and Melissa continued to ride her bike to her heart's content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his daughter. "Time to go now" Again Melissa pleaded, "Five more minutes, Dad, just five more minutes"  The man smiled and said, "Ok"  "My, you certainly are a patient father," the woman responded. The man smiled and then said, "Her older brother Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with Tommy and now I'd give anything for just five more minutes with him. I've vowed not to make the same mistake with Melissa.  She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bike. The truth is, I get five more minutes to watch her play."

Just a short reminder to everyone working so hard in life that we should not let time slip through our fingers without, having spent quality time with our children, who really matter to us, and those close to our hearts. If we were to die today, the same company will easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. Why pour ourselves more into work than our family?

Beloved, it's sad that we have prioritized spending quality time with our children with presents, fancy cars and all. Yes. Those are good too, but not very important.  "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient..." some things are more important than others and it's  high time we as parents realized, according to how Jesse Jackson put it when he said, "your children need your presence more than your presents".