Saturday was the day the kids have had circled on their calendar for a few weeks now. Our youngest (Princess 2.0) has been reminding me for days that she could not wait until Saturday. No sooner had we put all of the Thanksgiving and fall decorations in our storage space, the Christmas decorations came out and began to go up. I actually cheated a few weeks ago and hung the outside lights while the temperatures were unseasonably warm. We just haven’t turned them on until now.

With Christmas decorations come Christmas music (which I have been listening to off and on for a few weeks as well). By far, my favorite Christmas song is by the band “MercyMe” called “Joseph’s Lullaby.” From the time that the first of our three children were born, this song has rocked my world. I love how it’s written from Joseph’s perspective. The new father singing a lullaby to the One that would soon change the world. Incredible. Not just the song, but one line in particular. It gets me every single time. The line is this….

For tonight, simply be my child.

I think it rocks my socks because most parents feel that way. We have so many visions and dreams of what our children will be one day. We know early on what their bent is. Having lived as long as we have on this earth, we also know the challenges which lie ahead. We know enough to know that we don’t know many of the challenges and surprises too. As I watch them in various moments, I often think back to that simple line….

“Simply be my child”

Because I don’t want them to speed through these moments in their life without having memories to look back on.

Because the world and all of its challenges can wait.

Because there are plenty of things that will steal their attention and time.

Bob Goff once said:

I think a father’s job, when it’s done best, is to get down on both knees, lean over his children’s lives and whisper, ‘where do you want to go.'” (Love Does)

I think Bob was on to something there. Actually, I know he was because I talked to him on the phone once about that very thing. I was in between jobs, had severance coming in and was looking at where to go with my life. His instruction to me was to “have the kids make a list of all the places they would like to go and then go do that.” I loved that advice. I think Bob was encouraging me to invest time and moments into my children so they could simply be my children.

As we navigate the hustle and bustle of this season. Take time to make memories. Carve out moments and put the world and all it’s worries on pause. Allow your child to simply be your child.

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