Great Kids

I hope your Thanksgiving was a good one! It was good to visit with family and friends over the holidays. Now it's time to settle back into another holiday. Don't the years fly by?!!??
It was so much fun catching up on what everyone is doing. You know, I'm getting better at noticing God moments. These are just little snippits of time where someone says something or does something that just bowl me over.
This time it was Sunday after worship services. We were visiting a congregation where I once worked. Many good friends still there. One came up to us and I asked him about his family. His son and wife were in the military, but making plans to go to the Czech Republic for 5 to 7 years to do mission work. Tears welled up in his eyes as he talked about them. "I don't know," he said. That's a long ways away. I told him that my brother had been on the mission field for nearly 30 years. He could go see them if he wanted. But I said, "You'll have all of eternity to be with them." Again, tears welled up. "I know."
This gentleman and his wife have two sons, both wonderful Christian young men. I told my friend that he had great kids. He said, "You know, people always ask me the secret of raising kids. There's no secret. You just spend time with them." I added, "And you love them unconditionally." That's what this father did. He spent time. They fished together, hunted together, did everything together. In this day and age of go, go, go, and microwave ovens and instant messaging, it was good to hear that time spent with kids is still an important activity. Important...wow, it's essential. There is no substitute. I've heard people talking about spending quality time with their kids. I contend that you never know when the quality time will show up. You only discover it when you spend quantity time.
There you go. My God moment. I treasure those times. Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me loud and clear. Go out and hug your kids. Spend some TIME with them. You'll never regret it. I read an author one time who said he never saw any man who said at the end of his life that he regretted not spending more time at the office. Have a great day...and welcome back. JW