Sunset is Quickly Approaching

My youngest daughter entered high school last fall. I feel like she was just born a few months ago and I holding her in one arm.

Parents, have you ever said “I have plenty of time”?

I’m not so sure we do. Time flies by so fast and before you know it, it’s dusk.

I’m not sure about you, but I don’t often realize how fast the “second half” of our kids’ time with us passes. The first nine years goes by so slow. It seems to take forever as we watch them learn to walk, start talking, get out of diapers, go to school, ride a bike, etc..
It just seems natural the next 9 years will be drawn out too.

Wrong! Those second nine, they progress three times faster. When we hit their ninth birthday, we’re 75% done, people. Everything accelerates.

So what factors contribute to this?:
_____We get busier as parents and our careers often cause us to spend less time at home
_____Other people start influencing our kids. Things like friends, TV and music, teachers…all accelerate their exposure and learning.
_____Younger siblings demand our time, so the older kids get less of us.
_____For single parents, as the kids get older they often decide to spend more time with one parent and so the other parent loses time and influence.
____Part-time jobs for our teens pull them farther from us.
____(Fill in another 20 reasons).

Ephesians 5:16 encourages us to make good use of our time on Earth. The opportunity to be influential in our child’s life doesn’t last as long as we think.

Sunset is quickly approaching. I want to seize the day and invest in our kids aggressively before the sun sets and they are no longer under our roof. Non-custodial parents have even less time.

What are some ways you influence your kids? Share some ideas with us so we can redeem the time we’ve already lost.