By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
I remember growing up in much less hectic times. Life happened at a slower pace. People knew what mattered and made sure to fit them into their daily schedules.
Families ate together around the dinner table and shared the highlights and lowlights of their day. Sadly, those days are long gone.
And with their demise, a culture of cooperation, morality, and the importance of faith and family disappeared like bath water swirling down the drain.
What can we do to regain that culture? There isn’t one single remedy, but may I suggest a good place to start is for parents to be hands-on in raising their children. That likely will require rearranging our priorities and how much time we spend with them.
Consider this portion of a poem by Helen Young, written in 1985. It’s titled “Children Won’t Wait.”
There is a time to leave the dishes, to swing him in the park,
To run a race, to draw a picture, to catch a butterfly, to give him happy comradeship.
There is a time to point the way, to teach his infant lips to pray,
To teach his heart to love God’s Word,
For children won’t wait.
There is a time to sing instead of grumble, to smile instead of frown,
To kiss away the tears and laugh at broken dishes.
A time to share with him my best in attitudes — a love of life, of God, of family.
There is a time to answer his questions,
Because there may come a time when he will not want my answers.
There is a time to teach him so patiently to obey, to put his toys away.
There is a time to teach him the beauty of duty, the habit of Bible study, the joy of worship at home, the peace of prayer,
For children won’t wait.
There is a time to watch him bravely go to school, to miss him underfoot.
There is a time to teach him independence, responsibility, self-reliance,
To be firm but friendly, to discipline with love,
For soon, so soon, there will be a time to let him go, the apron strings untied,
For children won’t wait.
There is a time to treasure every fleeting minute of his childhood.
Just eighteen precious years to inspire and train.
I will not exchange this birthright for a mess of pottage called social position, or business or professional reputation, or a paycheck.
An hour of concern today may save years of heartache tomorrow.
The house will wait, the dishes will wait, the new room can wait,
But children won’t wait.
There will be a time when there will be no slamming of doors, no toys on the stairs, no childhood quarrels, no fingerprints on the wallpaper.
Then may I look with joy and not regret.
There will be a time to concentrate on service outside my home;
On visiting the sick, the bereaved, the discouraged, the untaught;
To give myself to the “least of these.”
There will be a time to look back and know that these years of motherhood were not wasted.
I pray there will be a time to see him an upright and an honest man, loving God and serving all.
God, give me the wisdom to see that today is my day with my children.
That there is no unimportant moment in their lives.
May I know that no other career is so precious,
No other work so rewarding,
No other task so urgent.
May I not defer it nor neglect it,
But by the Spirit accept it gladly, joyously, and by your grace realize
That the time is short and my time is now,
For children won’t wait!
It’s so easy to overlook our children and assume they’ll grow into well-adjusted, mature adults, isn’t it? For them to get lost in our own activities, be they work, hobbies, social media, or leisure time. May we not sacrifice them on the altar of busyness.
Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.