photo by Andrew Eick
For many folks Saturdays represent a break in the work week, but an opportunity to catch up on household chores and projects. For the Christian family, it should represent an opportunity to spend some time connecting with each other. It really is too easy to just let everybody go their own way, and admittedly, as our children get older that’s exactly what happens.
Still, a lot of benefit can be gained from spending an hour together working on a project. I’m a firm believer that quantity time with our children is more important than quality time. The quality comes with the establishment of a genuine relationship between you and your child, where your own child learns to enjoy your company, not in sporadic snippets of deep, profound conversation.
Regularly spending time like this allows for all sorts of connection points, everything from sharing the joys and frustrations of the week to planning for the future to reminiscing about the past. And all these connection points open up the possibility of sharing the gospel with your child.
Besides, sharing a chore or project for an hour teaches your child about all kinds of character issues: stewardship of our possessions, service to the family, self-discipline, cheerful generosity (that’s a hard one), and real self esteem that comes from accomplishment (not the fake self esteem that comes from obligatory manufactured flattery).
We have two pumpkins that have been sitting on our front porch steps that I’ve been meaning to carve and draw out the seeds to dry so they can be roasted. And an attic that’s been taken over by chaos. I'll throw on some hot chocolate, toss the chicken into the crock pot and corral the troops. Oh, I see the potential for a lot of connecting going on today.
How about you? What can you and your child do today that will open up avenues of connection?
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