When I saw Father and Daughter swivelling sweetly rehearsing science and talking theology in that love seat right there in the middle of our family lounge,
…right in the midst of my own thoughts blaring, and the oven beeping –—
yeah, even in the middle of what looks like your everyday kinda mess —
of laundry piles not magically disappearing, and your own ugly scrawls of to-do list lengthening;
I was struck by this sudden epiphany, torn by the insane cacophony.
What makes a home a home?
What leaves indelible imprints on hearts that will one day leave our home, and how ought parents with finite time and energy figure a living beyond the merely existing?
I want to know — because the modern family life is hectic.
Between the band and music ensembles, of piano, clarinet, and saxophone practices — and basketball, swimming, Maths and English tuitions; not to mention school, and work and church in the mix, somebody tell me how can parents not crumble under the time pressure we all feel, but can’t escape?
Mums and Dads are tired.
Who’s got the time and energy to play, and teach, and stop being in different places at the same time when the bills need paying and the budget met?
We think we can multitask on our phone; but it’s easier to scroll down your Instagram feeds for a much-needed fix and is there a way to get over this craze?
To break the bondage of busyness and multiply meaningful moments?
Can we parent in such a way that leaves us confident in our style, comfortable at our pace, and content with our own outcome — when there are real mortgages and meals and make-overs to upkeep?
We’re all desperate for a better method in all this madness.
I read it once in a survey once how the American families were spending a mere 37 minutes on average with their children on a given weekday, but 3 hours on social media, and who knows how this lack of time creates a tsunami of issues we’re too afraid to face?
But before tomorrow — before the beginning of a new day of a new term in a new year — we want a reformation that fosters true connections.
We want to learn how to slow time down so we can really talk, truly engage, creatively connect.
And that begins with looking away from our screen to look into the souls of our kids.
And when I heard Dad telling his Daughter of matters in atoms and the facts of Creation, and that there is a faith that sees the God unseen, and know Him as the Father personable, knowable; I’m reminded of this:
It’s our task to fill their heads with knowledge but their hearts with wisdom.
And home is where conversations that truly matter can really happen.
Teachable, tender moments built on the foundations of Gospel truth forms identity and provides security that follows them long even after they’ve left our home.
It’s true —
the treasury of their little lives today will be the trajectory of their large launches tomorrow.
Clocks needn’t exist when time runs seamless in homes where hearts connect and eyes engage, because:
The best natural learning happens in the context of the most natural living.
And maybe this is what I want —
A life where love fills every corner of every home.
A life where enough time is given to absorb truth so the simplest of hearts to the brightest of minds can transform.
Because giving children this gift of the inner compass — of values, faith and character — don’t they underpin the future success that their life may bring?
CS Lewis who famously wrote: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else”, had me craving it.
To artfully and skilfully paint on the blank canvases of impressionable souls isn’t always glamorous but will always be glorious.
Because when time’s run out and we no longer have moments to play under the table, or camp in make-do tents;
I want to be able to answer the one big question I know I must face:
What did we do with the time in our hands and the children in our home?
This is the revolution I’m desperate to see.
The quiet ripple of revival, all starting with just us…
