I read this article from a parenting newletter from HomeWord.com that I receive and thought it would be a good appetizer to the series that Pastor Anthony will be preaching in the up coming months. Enjoy!
"One of the greatest benefits of this “one-month-to-live lifestyle” is deeper, more authentic relationships, especially with your kids.
Kerry tells a compelling story about how living like he only has 30 days to live affected his relationship with his two oldest boys. Here it is in his own words:
When we first started living this one-month-to-live lifestyle, the first thing I did was go to my two oldest teenage boys, and I said, “Guys, I really want to have a deeper relationship with you. We’ve kind of settled for superficiality.”
You know, they’re guys and I’m a guy, and I’d come home from work and I’d say, “How was your day, guys?” And they’d say, “Oh, great. How was your day, Dad?” “Oh, it was great.”
I said that I want more than that, I want to know your struggles and your stresses and the things you’re going through. They said, “Well, you never tell us yours, Dad.” And I said, “Well, I didn’t think you needed me to dump my stresses on you, you’ve got enough of your own in high school.” They said, “We can handle it, Dad.”
So every Thursday at 3 o’clock, I started meeting them at their favorite restaurant. I’d have the chili cheese fries and the Cokes ready, and they’d come in, their eyes would light up, and they’d say, “How was your day, Dad?” And I’d say, “Well, it really stunk, boys.” And they would love that.
I’d tell them the stresses I was going through and they would tell me theirs and it just took us to a whole new level. We’d pray together. We’d talk about deeper things. We just had settled for superficiality. We were never very intentional until we started living this way.
The key concept here is being proactive to live your life intentionally. Living the one-month-to-live lifestyle forces you to be intentional about spending relational time with your kids. It reduces superficial communication and encourages authenticity. It values being together and communicating love and encouragement today, rather than putting these off to another “tomorrow.” And these things, probably as much as anything else you do as a parent, are what your children need and want the most!
Now, frankly, not every moment you spend with your kids will be amazing and life-changing. But long term, when they look back at those chili-cheese-fry moments, they’ll appreciate the time you spent with them.
Parents who choose to live intentionally, receive a priceless gift. They are empowered to make the tough decisions about letting go of commitments with lesser importance. They understand that skimping on family relationships in order to save the world is an empty goal. They are able to carve out time to nurture their relationship with God. And they understand that every moment invested with their family helps to build a lasting legacy that can endure for generations.
Fortunately, most of us aren’t going to die in the next 30 days. We have many years ahead of us. Yet, living the one-month-to-live lifestyle helps us to refocus our priorities, motivating us to make each day matter. If we do so, we’re more likely to live regret-free. And you’ll never have to say, “I wish I had taken the time to….”
