In these hurried days of modern day living some of us, as parents, have lost touch with the time we give our families.
We are so busy working from can to can’t that many times our family members, especially our children, suffer from a lack of parental guidance, intervention, and leadership. Our love may be no less than it has always been; however, the lack of time spent with our children will come across as less love because of less time.
There is a heart-wrenching story that tells about a child asking his father to lend him $25. The father is so taken back that he punishes the child for wanting some of his hard-earned money to buy childish toys or fund childish ideas.
The young boy asked his father, “How much money do you make an hour?” The father replied in a very candid and dogmatic way, “I make $50 an hour.”
The father became so irritated at his young child that he sent the boy to his room and told him to stay there until he came and told him he could come out. The dad had worked all day and was tired. He became annoyed at his child because he asked to borrow $25.
After an hour or so the dad had calmed down and felt bad about the way he treated his son. After all, maybe he did have a good use for the $25.
The dad went to the room of the child and told him that he could have the money if he needed it. The boy was so excited that he took the $25 and then reached under his pillow and pulled out some more crumpled up dollar bills.
The dad became irritated again and asked the boy why he wanted more money if he already had some.
The young boy counted out the money and it came to $50. He then asked his dad if he could come home at 4 p.m. the next day, an hour earlier than he usually worked. “Can I buy an hour of your time tomorrow so you can come home early, and we can have dinner together?”
Needless to say, the father was crushed and put his arms around the young child and begged for forgiveness. All of us need to remember that the jobs that we work so hard at can replace us in a matter of hours should we die. Our family and friends will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
Remember what our Lord and Savior told His disciples in Mark 10:13-14. People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
As earthly parents we need to realize that the best gift we can give our children is our Godly leadership — by giving of ourselves and our time.
