What Do They Want?

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone.  This year there were 25 of us!  For the first time in a while all 3 of my brothers and their families were able to come.  Among us we have 11 children.  Years ago, when all our children were little, we knew we needed to “drain” the children of some of their energy so their combined “enthusiasm” didn’t destroy Grandma and Grandpa’s home.  So, on Thursday afternoon, before THE MEAL we would take the kids to a nearby park.  As they got older, we started playing a traditional game of Ultimate Frisbee.

I’ve never been good at throwing a Frisbee…guess it’s why I get picked last every year!  But I play, generally making a fool of myself, because it’s just plain fun – the game, I mean!  Now, most of the children are taller than the adults (Actually, most of them are now adults!), but they love this tradition – going to the park.  We’ve been going for at least 17 years… and they play just as hard as they did when they were little.  The funny thing is – so do we (the older adults) – only we pay for it the next morning!

Old clothes, a plain field, a simple game…  Do you know what our children really want?

Us. Time with us.

How do we do this?  We give them ourselves.  We meet them where they are.

“Lord, You made me and You made my child.  You know our relationship.  Please go before me and show me how to do this.  I want to be the parent that You already knowI can be.  I want the relationship that You desire for us.”