It doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while, something actually does catch me by surprise. I say it doesn't happen very often because there is one significant part of me that always expects human beings to be the sinful beings that they are. I'm not really surprised when an upstanding person suddenly is revealed to have a dark side to them, or a hidden lifestyle, or something along those lines. Part of me actually expects that, since we are, by nature, sinful and unclean. It will come out.
But over the past half a year plus, I have actually been surprised. My wife and I celebrated the addition of a little boy to our family just days before last Christmas. As we started to figure out what this new addition meant to our family and our life, I knew that it would call for some extra time on my part, time I was truly happy to give. After all, one of the primary commands that God has given to men, husbands and fathers in particular, is to care for their families and to make sure that their needs were met.
Truth be told, I was surprised that there are those who found it strange that I, the husband and father and head of the household, would take the time to make sure that all was well within the household. Undoubtedly, that required a few sacrifices on my part, but thankfully, God also has blessed me with a number of awesome people who were able to fill in gaps. Sure, things went undone as the demands of time and commitment called me to my family, but overall, I would like to think that, in the grand scheme of things, relatively few things of significance were impacted.
As Christians abiding in the nation in which we live, have we so bought into what our nation and culture teaches that we find it odd or even distressing that a husband and father would want to spend a little extra time with his family? Have we become more Americanized, as in thinking that the father has to spend hours on end outside the household and that the mother has to assume all the working duties of the house, than we are Christianized, where care and concern for others is our highest command? Do we take it that, when God commands that the head of the household should care for his family, that this only means in going to work, and not in actually being present with them, especially at challenging transition times like sleep and lunch and dinner and the like?
I don't know. I guess the reason I was so startled and surprised was that I truly would hope that a father caring for his family wouldn't be so odd, but then again, so many of the things that God would have us consider as we live as His people truly are countercultural.
But over the past half a year plus, I have actually been surprised. My wife and I celebrated the addition of a little boy to our family just days before last Christmas. As we started to figure out what this new addition meant to our family and our life, I knew that it would call for some extra time on my part, time I was truly happy to give. After all, one of the primary commands that God has given to men, husbands and fathers in particular, is to care for their families and to make sure that their needs were met.
Truth be told, I was surprised that there are those who found it strange that I, the husband and father and head of the household, would take the time to make sure that all was well within the household. Undoubtedly, that required a few sacrifices on my part, but thankfully, God also has blessed me with a number of awesome people who were able to fill in gaps. Sure, things went undone as the demands of time and commitment called me to my family, but overall, I would like to think that, in the grand scheme of things, relatively few things of significance were impacted.
As Christians abiding in the nation in which we live, have we so bought into what our nation and culture teaches that we find it odd or even distressing that a husband and father would want to spend a little extra time with his family? Have we become more Americanized, as in thinking that the father has to spend hours on end outside the household and that the mother has to assume all the working duties of the house, than we are Christianized, where care and concern for others is our highest command? Do we take it that, when God commands that the head of the household should care for his family, that this only means in going to work, and not in actually being present with them, especially at challenging transition times like sleep and lunch and dinner and the like?
I don't know. I guess the reason I was so startled and surprised was that I truly would hope that a father caring for his family wouldn't be so odd, but then again, so many of the things that God would have us consider as we live as His people truly are countercultural.
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