Cherish Your Kids Now

Rebekah, Katie and Tim, August 1992

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took our oldest daughter to New York to start graduate school. The following day, our middle daughter drove herself to Illinois to begin her senior year of college.

It seems like just a few years ago we were dropping our girls off at grade school. When our kids were little all the 40- and 50-year-olds we knew would tell us to cherish the time we had with our kids because in the blink of an eye, they would be gone.

We’ve blinked our eyes and now both our daughters are gone and our son will most likely be gone in the next year or two. The past 23 years have flown by just like the empty-nesters told us they would. Now, I’m the soon-to-be empty-nester who wants to proclaim loudly to every parent of young children…

• Cherish your kids while they are young.
• Take advantage of every moment you have to teach your kids what really matters in life.
• Model for your kids what it means to love and be loved and to know God and be known by Him.
• You will influence your children more than anyone else.
• What happens at home is more important than what happens anywhere else. It’s more important than what happens at school, on the playground, at soccer practice and at church.
• God has appointed you to be the primary influence and spiritual leader in your kids’ lives.  At times, that can seem like a daunting task but God has given you His word, His Spirit and other people to help you.

For those of you who attend the Lawrence Free Methodist Church, our children’s ministry wants to come alongside you and partner with you for the faith of your children. When a church and parents work together to help kids find and follow Jesus, their effectiveness greatly increases.

I’ve decided to start including a weekly post for parents on this blog as one way for our church to partner with parents for the faith of your kids. It’s my prayer that these posts will encourage you and give you practical tips so you can leverage the time you have with your kids now for years to come.