Unscheduled Family Time

My husband is a farmer and a small business owner, neither of which are 9-5 jobs.  Because of this, my life is more task-oriented than schedule-oriented.  This also makes regular family time next to impossible.

Despite the lack of dedicated family time, we are not haphazard when it comes to training our boys in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6).  Every situation contains teachable, bonding moments.  While we do watch movies and camp and do other activities as a family, the boys also come with me to run errands.  There they learn patience, compromise, treating others with respect, even the importance of counting your change.  They come with us to funerals and visitations and hospital calls, learning how to handle themselves in various situations.  Matt comes to Nathan’s tee ball games, Nathan to Matt’s tennis tournaments, and they learn to support and cheer each other on. 

Clinton takes the boys to ride in (and sometimes drive) the tractor with him during farming season, and they help him with projects around the house.   We pray with them before they get on the school bus, before we take them to an activity, any time we think of it.  Above all, we try to see Jesus in every situation, and find laughter even if we have to create it from scratch.

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I’m reading all I’ve written above and quite frankly, feel a bit like I’m copping out.  I should be more intentional, do more fun things, at least have a regular devotion time…

But as I take these feelings of failure to Jesus, he shows me that doing life with my family mirrors his “parenting technique” with his disciples.  Jesus didn’t schedule Apostleship 101 on Tuesdays and Thursdays with lab on Saturday.  He invited them to do life with him, to follow him, to watch him, ask questions, and then go out and do it themselves.  

  

Family time comes in as many shapes and sizes as there are families.  What works for one will not for another.   But if we do all things in love, all things can become family time.