January 22, 2008

Dejunk or Life Series

 

Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not turn from it.”  

 

Let’s Hang Out!

 

“Dad,” Anna Camille said at breakfast one day last week, “Let’s hang out this afternoon.”   It was Friday and my day off so I said, “That would be great!”   I asked, “What do you want to do?”   She asked, “What do you want to do?.......Let’s do errands.”  She smiled.   Just doing simple errands is one of the things I’ve done with Anna Camille most of her life.

 

Right at 3:30 she popped in from school and said, “Let’s go!”  We got into her car and went to Hobby Lobby for a tube of cobalt blue oil paint, then to Sam’s Club and Barnes and Noble.   When we got back into her car I said, “Let’s call and talk to your sisters and your grandmother.”   Anna Camille said, “Let’s not, instead can we just talk?” 

 

In our world it is easy to fill every moment doing and going.  In living our busy life we can forget how to talk to each other and tell one another about our lives.  

 

Anna Camille said, “Dad, I made a 95 on my Hamlet test.”   We talked about Shakespeare’s famous play and how everyone died in the end.  She commented, “Hamlet just focused on revenge and forgot he had a responsibility for the nation.  For Denmark was invaded by an enemy in the end.”   Then she said, “If everyone had done the right thing none of the tragedies would have happened.”   And briefly we discussed that truth.   We then established she was going out with a friend that night.   Riding down Highway 31 we made plans for Saturday to go searching antique stores for perfume bottles which she loves to collect.   She agreed to go and see the people in the hospital with me while we were antiquing the next day.  As she got out of the car she said, “Thanks for just spending time with me, Dad.” 

 

In Proverbs, King Solomon wisely warns parents to guard children’s lives.   Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not turn from it.”   These words from King Solomon speak to us about investing our lives in our children so they understand our values and our love for them.  

 

My grandparents invested hours of just conversation with me.  There is no substitute for just “hanging out” with our kids.  It builds a foundation that lasts forever.

 

Prayer:

Dear God, help me as a part of a family to just spend time talking with those I love the most.  Amen.