My Week In Review

photo by Aunt Owwee
So, how did your week go as being a purposeful parent? Did you shake your child’s world with incredible spiritual insights and share far-reaching revelations of biblical proportion? Did your child come running to you, begging for more of your theological prowess and promising to work real hard to be half the parent you are?

Did you even talk to each other?

It’s a good exercise to evaluate how your week went with your child, to determine what you did well and what needs some work. How purposeful were you in sharing the gospel or in setting up opportunities for relating to your child so sharing could come at another time?

Come to think of it, how well did I do?

Things I Think I Did Well
We actually skipped church last Sunday. My oldest son called that morning to say that certain things with his fiancée had come to a head and after three years together they were deciding to part ways. Fatigue from working a full-time job at night while attending college full time was evident in his voice. My husband wondered if we should be with him during this time. In fifteen minutes we were out the door, driving the hour and fifteen minutes to his house so we could drag him off to his favorite Chinese restaurant where we stuffed ourselves silly and laughed at inane fortune cookie wisdom.

We had Bible reading and discussion every morning this week except one, and even though we tend not to be morning people (picture crickets chirping around the breakfast table), the conversation was actually kind of lively.

Rachel and I provided child care so that ladies from our church could indulge in some Bible study. James didn’t help us because he came down with a flaming head cold that left him talking through his ears. That was the morning we didn’t hold our own personal devotion.

Rachel and I had some one-on-time at a local coffee shop where we discussed her driver’s ed class, life as a teen and her wish that she could find a job. I don’t recall it being overly spiritual in tone, but I do know we talked about how she’d been praying about her job situation. Then the shop owner came over and hired her on the spot for some part-time work. Just like that.

My son and I had our personal devotion time sitting on the couch together. He was at one end, I was on the other, our legs propped up on each other as I was reading Acts and he was finishing Genesis. I hope I don’t get his cold. I hate talking through my ears.

Things I Probably Need To Work On
It would be good for James and I to have the occasional one-on-one time as well. Previous mother-son outings have been notoriously quiet, a byproduct of two exceptionally introverted people and me not knowing anything about gaming systems. Nonetheless, it would still be good for us to connect from time to time. Bill is much better at drawing him out than I am, but maybe I can bring a list of twenty questions and get something going.

photo by Stewart I need better balance between my ministry work and time spent connecting with my children. I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to build TGMT’s readership and interacting with people online as I meet them, to the exclusion of focused time together with my children. Yes, we have school together, but we occasionally need to enjoy some unstructured time just relaxing in each other’s company. We were going to eat a picnic dinner at a local park one night this past week, and for whatever reason it just didn’t come off. I didn’t make any effort, or I allowed myself to become sidetracked enough, that I didn’t reschedule it. We need to occasionally just hang out together.

They haven’t heard me talk in prayer speak in awhile, nor have I spent much time praying with them. That needs to change. Busyness is not a good reason to get out of that habit.

There’s my list. Have you reviewed your week as a parent? What would you do differently if you could?

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