The 3 Most Important Times of My Day - #2
Yesterday, I talked about the first of three essential times of my day.
The second essential time of my day is just as important, and just as deliberate.
I began to recognize something in my life a year or so ago. If I wasn’t intentional my time with my children suffered. I would, many times, get caught up in the more pressing things in my schedule, such as work. Honestly I’d have to admit that many times my own interests crowded out focused attention and time with my kids.
Much of that began to change when I set a goal to be deliberate with pouring into my two boys the things I wanted them to know/learn. I began to contemplate a plan for how to make sure that I was investing in their lives. You can read about some of this plan in my post, “One Down, Four to Go.”
The best thing that I began doing several months ago was scheduling intentional time with my kids, one-on-one. In fact, the older they get the more imperative it is that I do this.
I spend weekly time with Josiah right now discussing things I’ve learned from a book by Dr. Henry Cloud entitled Integrity. We grab a coke and sit around by the lake, or we might head out for dinner together. Whatever the case it is an intentional part of my schedule where I can instill important things in him and talk with him about life in general.
For Micah, we have a scheduled “Lego Night” once a month where we go to the nearby Lego Store and he gets to build a free mini figure in-store and then take it home afterwards. We’ll then grab Chick-fil-A usually afterwards.
With Emerie, our “Daddy/Daughter Dates” come less frequently, but just as intentionally. Many times it is forcing myself to sit down to a ‘tea party’ in her room, or spend some time drawing/coloring pictures (which she loves).
On a daily basis, we make dinner together a priority. Most nights we sit down at the dinner table and eat together. No one is allowed to rush through. Instead, we take turns sharing our “Highs and Lows” from the day, and talking about what is happening in our lives. We have set routines with the kids for bedtime, as well - most nights we read with them/to them before they head off the sleep.
This evening time has to be intentional for me, or it is too easy to ‘zone out’ into my own space - retreating into my introverted solitude after a long work day. The deliberateness is having an impact, though, as I feel like we know our kids well, we love spending time together as a family, and we are building a foundation which, hopefully, will help keep relationship at the forefront in the midst of more turbulent teen years and beyond.
What about you? What are you doing to intentionally spend quality (and quantity) time with your kids?
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Chris shared their voice on 08.13.2009:
Rick shared their voice on 08.13.2009:
I have made myself be intentional in praying for my kids each day with a simple “before leaving the house” routine. I go into each bedroom, including mine, and pray for each child by name and finish with my wife. I pray over each of them each morning. Now that both kids are at college, I still pray “over” them—I still go into each bedroom and put my hand on their pillow as I pray. They both know I am still praying daily for them.
Chris shared their voice on 08.14.2009:
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"Thin Places" are rich in Celtic tradition. They are the places in our lives where the divine and the natural worlds come so close together that we can catch a glimpse of God. For the Celtics these places were very real - places within creation where we could physically go. The Thin Places in our own lives are those moments where the space between us & the Kingdom is thin, when we are introduced to a greater glimpse of Who He is through our experiences and through the stories of others.
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"The 3 Most Important Times of My Day - #1"
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justin shared their voice on 08.13.2009:
well. for starters, my little guy is just twelve months. but i figure now is as good a time as any to talk to him about seriously deep and cool stuff ;] the fact is, they pick up so much of what is being said around them. so i really do try to be intentional about speaking of who GOD is, why he deserves our allegiance and also about why he can’t eat the fireplace rocks.
we will usually take a day for some “guy time” and head to starbucks or walk the greenways around nashville. i know he may not be getting 100% of what is going on, but i want him to always have these memories of hanging out and conversating with his pops.
great little post, thanks for sharing chris!