Put The Paper Down!

I’ve done it all. It was a long time ago but the memory still comes to the front of my mind now and again. It is the memories of things that I did that were not great. Right now I remember my daily routine when I came home from work. It was not that I was tired but I thought I deserved a few moments to gather my thought and read the paper.
Oh I said hello to the three other people in the home but they all knew, this was dad’s time. With those initial greetings over, I would settle down in my ‘grandfather’s’ chair, still have it by the way, and read the paper. Everyone knew, not to bother me. Just leave me alone until the last page was turned and it was folded back into the shape it was when I first picked it up.
Now as I think back, two things come to mind. They knew that is was my time and I knew they would respect that.
Much later I realized that something was walking by me and I didn’t even know it. My family was walking by me into their future and I was missing out on those days. You know the song, Cats in the cradle . . .
Lucky for me, life changed all that. Life changed on a dime and God woke me up to what He was doing with me and my life.
Today, as I think of that family sitting waiting for me to put the paper down, so God was waiting for me as well. He was there, watching me, waiting for me to call His name. Patiently knowing there would be times that I would cry to Him and also knowing there would be times when I would come excitedly jumping and singing, (he didn’t say singing well, He said, make a joyful noise. I can do that). At those moments in my spiritual journey He would join in the celebration with me.
With my children I learned that it was more important to hear their hearts then to read my paper, or clean my car or cut grass or go to work and make money or or or, you fill in your own activities. Life goes by and when you get to my age you realize that you learned late or as Emerson said, “Too soon old, too late smart.”
I believe we need to be the reflection of God to our children. Don’t waste time on things that really don’t count. And we also need to be like our children when we look up into His face and realize He has been there all along, waiting and listening to all the things that are on our hearts.
Something to think about
Rob