Are You Fully Invested?

I did a lot of coaching last summer. I coached for my two youngest sons: Elijah and his Little League team and Daniel and his T-ball team. It was a commitment of several hours every week in addition to my full-time job, but it’s something I love to do.

Coaching kids has taught me a lot about parenting. Many people love their kids and are involved in their lives. You can see how good it is for these kids to have parents who show up and are interested in them. But coaching has also shown me that too many parents are more interested in their work than their kids. Parents will often show up at the games and spend most of the time on their Bluetooth earpiece phone, pacing up and down behind the stands and missing what their kid is doing. I’m not naïve enough to believe this kind of absentee parenting ends at Little League games. What kind of adults will be made from kids who don’t think they are all that important to their parents? What kind of job is worth alienating our kids?

Ephesians 5:15-16 is a favorite passage of mine because it makes total sense in the context of Ephesians and in the context of most anything else in life. Paul writes, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” This passage can help redirect us when our work takes over our families. Let me point out three things:

1. Look carefully then how you walk . . .

We need to look carefully at whether our families are suffering because of the responsibilities of our work. We should take a few minutes on a regular basis to evaluate our level of investment, like whether we are really present with our kids when they are doing what is important to them. Don’t be afraid to ask yourself if your over-investment in work is causing you to under-invest in your family.

2. Making the best use of the time . . .

Our time with our kids is short, and we need to make the best use of the time we have with them. My oldest is eleven and youngest is five. That means we have about a dozen years left of deep and lasting influence before they move out and start making their own paths through life. Every day is full of opportunities if we will just use our time wisely to love them, disciple them, and show them how important they are to us.

3. Because the days are evil . . .

Evil influences are crouching at the door for our kids. When we are absent and uninvested, we leave them open to other influences. They need us present and involved, not just somewhere nearby. And if we aren’t there, they will fill the gap we have left with something else. We need to be aware that the world’s influences are looking for places to creep in with our kids.

I pray that we will be involved in our kids’ lives, making the most of our time with them, that they will grow into faithful and loving parents to our grandkids one day.

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You can also read more of Steve McCoy by visiting his blog http://www.stevekmccoy.com/.