Parents, we can fill our children with good things.
One simple way bless your children.
Now sixteen months ago, we almost overnight became parents.
Actually it was 3 days.
We found out about my now foster son on a Wednesday and was there at the hospital to visit him by Friday.
Rebecca and I both have a decades worth of experience with young children. Both of us helped foster (and adopt) infants, toddlers, children, and teenagers.
Compared to most twenty-somethings, we have a colossal amount of experience and preparation for parenthood…
Nothing prepared me for fatherhood.
I knew how to change diapers… feed kids… help redirect…
I knew all most of the essential things in parenthood, but it is like driving a manual. You can learn “how” to drive one, but until you actually get behind the wheel, shift gears and use the clutch, you can’t drive a manual until you’ve actually driven a manual. (I should confess, I have never driven a manual, minus attempting to park one while working at a car dealership.)
Yet, while I was not fully prepared to be a father, like most, I learned quickly.
Time works differently as a parent. You have the same amount you did before, but the time seems to evaporate all the faster.
Children are constant time suckers.
They need attention. You have to change diapers. They like to eat every few minutes. Crying is your ringtone.
Over the past decade, we have seen an emergence of a new parenting practice which at face value provides a win-win for parent and child alike—media.
Parents have found that handing a kid an iPad or turning on a movie will give them precious moments of undistracted work or alone time.
Trust me, this is an always lucrative temptation. There have been moments where I turn on a show for my son to watch while I work on something important.
I have quickly come to find a slight disdain for Miss Rachel. Bluey on the other hand is quite enjoyable.
As someone who works hard and takes their vocation with serious passion, the balance between work and family has become a delicate tension I have had to learn. A large part of this tension is finding ways to get quality work time while the boys are around.
Thus, my encouragement to you parents.
We can fill our children with good things.
Something I never really appreciated as a child was my mom’s constant practice of filling our home with good (rather, godly things).
From worship music, godly books, or spiritual decor, our home was constantly filled with God things.
As my oldest gets older, he is quickly able to engage with so many things. The temptation to throw something on the TV for him to watch is always present.
The past few months I have begun to practice a simple thing to fill his mind, ears, and life with good things while also giving him something to engage. We have been playing live worship music on our TV several times a day for him. Since starting this, we have seen him actively engage and watch these videos. Sometimes, he will climb onto the couch and watch a couple songs. Other times, he continues to play in our living room or kitchen, while we do something as well. Today, he sleeps, quietly in the presence of our Lord.
Parents, we can fill our children with good things.
My hope is that this early introduction and constant observation of praise to our Lord will help play a role in his future pursuit of God.
While it may be easy to hand our children iPads or turn on whatever favorite show your kids may be into right now, I encourage you to at least spend a few minutes filling their hearts, minds, ears, and eyes with the good things that come from God.
In a world full of noise, choose to make some of that noise a direct line to their Heavenly Father.