There are few things more frightening than secretly witnessing a violent event.  Once when my kids were little, my family went to a secluded park in a nice neighborhood.   We were the only ones at the park and we climbed into a big tube with peek-a-boo holes and pretended we were all asleep on a ship.  While we “hid” inside the ship the park appeared to be empty.

Within a few minutes a couple of young teenagers appeared.   Before we could even climb out of the tube, a dozen loud young men joined the group.   Some carried booze, several talked rough and a few shoved violently at each other until a knife came flashing out.

I quickly screamed “You’re It!” as loud as I could and pushed my little family out of the tube.  We immediately left the park without making eye contact at any of them.

In retrospect, I’ve often wondered why those teenagers were there and how did they find themselves in such an ugly crowd?  It must have been because they wanted to fit in, to be important – a part of something bigger than themselves.

It may seem obvious, but the point of this message is to simply remind ourselves that we need to make special time for our kids, and we need to love them, because if we don’t, someone else will.

So what does this look like?  It is where we put our kids ahead of our own agendas.  Time speaks of love.  My kids will see what is really important to me by how I spend my time.  Throw a little baseball.  Build Lego’s or forts.  Play dolls, cribbage or chess.  Make pottery or fly kites.

Every year our kids get older, reminding us that we are all at a point of decision.  We can keep our promise to love our kids forever, and thereby follow God’s promise to love us forever.  Make a choice to love your kids today!!

It’s the little things that you do with your little people that will turn into big future dividends in their lives.  There is absolutely no time to waste.