Day: June 27, 2018

Overcommitment

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.” Ephesians 5:15

Overcommitment is a marriage killer. When your week is filled with the demands of fifty, sixty, or even seventy hours at the office, the pressures of a new baby, making meals, night classes, housework, church programs, replacing the broken window, the kids’ band and football practices, Bible studies, painting the house, caring for your aunt with the broken leg… well, you get the idea. How can a husband and wife seek to communicate with each other when they’re too worn out to talk? How can they enjoy praying together when every moment is programmed? How can they enjoy a sexual relationship when they just want to collapse into bed each evening?

A few years ago some friends of ours decided to do something about this dilemma. They sold their house and moved to a less expensive home so they could reduce their hours at work and spend more time with each other and their children. That kind of downward mobility is almost unheard of today. Have they regretted it? Not for a moment.

Just between us…

• Are you satisfied with the amount of time we have for rest, renewal, and relationship building?
• Did we overcommit ourselves in the past week or month? How did that happen? How can we prevent it from happening again?
• What activities most often consume the time we could better spend with each other and with God? Can we give some of them up?

Dear Heavenly Father, we find it so much easier to fill our lives with “doing” instead of “being.” Forgive us for our misplaced values and careless living, and show us how to keep our priorities straight. Amen.

• From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
  Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Endings and Beginnings

“I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:5

The end of formal parenting is the passing of an era, yet it also presents an exciting opportunity—the chance to develop a wonderful new relationship with your adult children. Mike and Margi Klausmeier of Colorado Springs are enjoying their kids more than ever now that they’re grown. Twin sons Matthew and David have both worked with their parents in the evangelistic organization Youth With A Mission. Daughter Katie traveled with her mother on a recent missions trip to India and will soon join her mother and one brother on a journey to Cambodia. Mike says that “Our relationship with our boys has become one of adult Christian to adult Christian. We drew much closer as we shared our faith with them and they shared their walk with us.” Margi adds that partnering with her daughter in missions work “pulled us together in an incredible way.”

The Lord Himself said, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19). God is still at work in your grown kids. In this next phase of life, we encourage you to embrace your children as adults, and to offer them friendship as well as parental support. Then watch and see what God does. You may find that your relationship with your sons and daughters is only just beginning.

Before you say good night…

How can you offer greater friendship to your grown kids?

What new adventures would you like to

experience with them?

How would you like your relationship with your kids to change when they are grown?

Lord, the eras of our life seem to rush by. Thank You for Your faithful love and care through the years of our lives. Help us to develop new relationships with our adult children that draw us closer to them and bring glory to You. Amen.

• From Night Light For Parents, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
  Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.