CHILDREN AND TIME

A few days ago I was looking through some old pictures that had belonged to my grandmother before she died. One of the pictures was of her with her sisters when she was about five years old. She was once a child, living in the home of her parents, and growing up with her siblings. I only knew her as an old woman and now she has passed on. Some of the other pictures were of my family when I was a child living in Africa. One picture showed my dad as a young man in his early thirties with his three young children. As I looked at that picture a thought struck me. I am now where my dad was then. My dad has raised his children and is now a grandfather. Where did the time go?
James said, "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away (James 4:14)." Life really is short and the twenty years that we have with our children in the home is even shorter. Looking at those old pictures made me want to spend more time with my children because they will soon be grown and gone. We have a God given responsibility to spend time teaching and training our children (Titus 2:4; Eph. 6:4). Let us not waste that time. Consider the poem below:

The Soul of a Child

The soul of a child is the loveliest flower
That grows in the garden of God.
Its climb is from weakness to knowledge and power,
To the sky from the clay and the clod.
To beauty and sweetness it grows under care,
Neglected, 'tis ragged and wild.
'Tis a plant that is tender, but wondrously rare,
The sweet, wistful soul of a child.

Be tender, O gardener, and give it its share
Of moisture, of warmth, and of light,
And let it not lack for the painstaking care,
To protect it from frost and from blight.

A glad day will come when its bloom shall unfold,
It will seem that an angel has smiled,
Reflecting a beauty and sweetness untold
In the sensitive soul of a child.
~author unknown

Rearing children is a delightful experience at times, and a difficult one at other times. Putting forth the proper effort into raising children can put a strain on the budget, a strain on one's nerves, and a strain on one's health and energy. However, we must never forget that it is all worth-while. There is no amount of time, money, or energy that we should not want to spend in rearing those beautiful children. Remember the words of the Psalmist. "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them... (Psalm 127:3-5)."
~Kevin V. Rutherford