It’s About Time
We hear a lot about quality time with our kids.
In the midst of all that’s on our schedules today, it can be tough to get large quantities of time together, especially for larger families like ours. In the Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman talks about the fact that for some people, time equals love. So, if we don’t make sure to plan time with our kids then we’ll fail to meet a critical need.
That’s hard for a task-driven person like myself. I usually have more on my plate than I can possibly get done, but I also usually think I should do it all. That can tend to put me in a position of being reactive with family time rather than proactive. I’ve found a few tips to be helpful:
- I schedule regular date nights with my daughters, even from the earliest years. I did this with my oldest last night and these are often the best conversations. I try to leave as much time as possible because once a child starts opening up, you sure don’t want to stop them.
- We pick our kids activities with the goal of time together in mind. For us as a large family, we try to pick activities that multiple kids can do so that there’s less time shuttling and more time doing, and so that the activity can be experienced as a family, not just an individual. This doesn’t apply to everything, but where it does apply it has sure helped.
- Work spiritual learning time into the daily schedule. For our family, we have morning Bible study before Dad goes to work. This is a key time for discussing real life issues in the context of Scripture. This doesn’t take a lot of prep so don’t let that stop you. I just share what I’ve learned. At times, we’ve just read through Scripture together (don’t try to do too much at once, leave time for talking). Right now, we’re reading through John Piper’s What Jesus Demands from the World. Whatever. Just make sure you make the spiritual a priority
- I try to never run an errand by myself. I take a kid with me and we just talk.
That’s what I do. What’s worked for you? Share your thoughts below, or find me on facebook and join our new WalkerFamilyLife facebook group. Â
Read More
Featherless Birds and Tupperware
Some good friends of ours here at FamilyLife were recently traveling out of town for a week and leaving the kids with Grandma, who had come to stay at their house. Knowing that some situations involving families with 4 young children may go beyond the average Grandma’s energy level, they asked Karaña if she would be willing to come help if needed. Of course, she was willing.
So on the final night of a difficult week for Grandma that had included lost power for 8 hours and the flu, Karaña got the harried distress call, “There’s a bird in the house! Can you come catch it?â€
Of course you can imagine the scene when Karaña arrived. With four kids between 11 and 2 years of age with a bird loose in the house, there was lots of excitement. The bird had been cornered in one bedroom, so Karaña and Christine went to check it out. One look and they quickly shut the door again. It wasn’t a bird. It was a bat!
Well that was different altogether. Bats carry rabies and bite. So after establishing that animal control was closed on a Saturday evening and giving the 911 operator a laugh when she asked if the fire department could help (apparently they do cats but not bats), Karaña spoke to a pest control firm who told her that once it landed, the bat wouldn’t be able to take off again and could be easily caught in a Tupperware bowl.
Armed with this new expertise, the neighborhood volunteer bat patrol went back in to find and apprehend the culprit. But bats are good at hiding and like the dark. The creature was nowhere to be found. After searching in every nook and cranny, Karaña and Chris gave up, opened a window and shut the door, telling the family to keep it that way and let the owner try to find it when he got home.
Upon asking the family if there was an access door to the attic in that room (trying to determine how the bat had gained entry), 6 year old Caleb confided that, “There’s a hole in the closet and I’ve seen men go in there, but they don’t come out.â€
So what’s that got to do with FamilyLife? Well, it is family life, isn’t it?
How about sharing some of your family stories? Just go to our web site at www.walkerfamilylife.com and hit the link for the “Blog.†Then, comment on this story online. We’d love to hear them.
Read More
Prayer Letter: The Comfort Relay
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.—2 Cor 1:3-4
Yet, for most believers, the opportunities for this kind of ministry are limited. We know too few people and, with a growing trend toward hectic schedules and isolated lives, the opportunities are dwindling. Yet, there is one place where people are increasingly connected and transparent. Online.
This week, I’ll be traveling to Toronto to meet with the leadership of Power To Change (formerly Campus Crusade — Canada) to, Lord willing, make FamilyLife part of a groundbreaking venture. Software development is already well underway on a new type of social network designed around the idea of connecting those with life questions to others who’ve faced similar issues before and are equipped to help. This eMentoring program is being pursed by FamilyLife as a central part of our strategy to enable ministry by lay partners.
Soon, if the Lord blesses this new initiative, you may be able to enroll as a FamilyLife eMentor. You could specify, for example, that you’re experienced and available in the areas of Teen Parenting and Communication and would be available to take up to 5 messages per week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Then, this newly developed software would deliver ministry opportunities right to your inbox! You can even get started just volunteering to answer prayer requests.
Of course, there are plenty of challenges still to be tackled. How do we ensure that the advise given by lay volunteers is biblical? How do we go about recruiting mentors or mentees? What should the training look like? What about security? We are prayerfully working through those issues, but the possibilities are staggering.
Ask yourself where today’s generation goes to find answers. The Internet, of course. Whether it’s Google or Facebook, people today leverage the enormous info online to get everything from recipes to weight loss advice. Just as significant is the transparency that an anonymous online conversation promotes.
So let me know your thoughts on this. Email me or comment on this story on the blog. Would you be interested in being a part of this? What problems or promise do you see? Also, please pray for me to have wisdom in leadership and for the team that is helping to bring it to fruition.
Read More
eNewsletter – November 2007
If you’d like to read our November 2007 newsletter, visit http://community.icontact.com/p/walkerfamilylife/newsletters/newsletters/posts/enewsletter-november-2007
Read More
What’s Up? – New Newsletter for email recipients only
As a way of giving additional inside information to our partners, I’ve just started a new eNewsletter called “What’s Up? Butch’s Look Inside FamilyLifeâ€. If you’d like to sign up for the regular Prayer letter via email and/or the new What’s Up email, use the signup form here on the blog below.
Read More
