Being a father for a little over a year now, I have found that it is difficult to be present all the time with my family. I think that before having kids, it was a little easier to come home after work and spend time wth Kat. We would eat dinner and watch a movie or a television show together. As I am writing this, maybe in some ways we both were not present as much as we should have been. However, I know that with kids I have a whole new understanding of trying to be present. I leave in the morning and return in the evening after working all day. To be honest God, I do not have the most physically challenging job but many days when I return home, I am emotionally exhausted but the moment I come in the door and here the words, "Papa's home," I know that I must be present with my children and my wife. However, I know God that I need your help to be the Papa and the husband that I want to be to my for my family.
I think that being present with my kids begins my being present with You. I know that being present with You is not the easiet either. So many times, I have found that we are easily distracted. Radios,cell-phones, computers, I-Pads, cars, television shows, internet, Facebook, and noise are just a few of the distractions that we face on an everyday basis.
I was reminded of a story of a 17th-Century monk named Brother Lawrence. He did not have any prestigious titles or big important job. Brother Lawrence was a dish washer. During his life, he was able to experience you through everything that he did no matter how mundane. God, I need your help. I want to experience you at a deeper level in everything that I do whether it is talking with a difficult person, playing with my kids or even washing dishes. God, not only do I want to be present with my wife and kids but I want Your Presence in my life all of the time.
Brother Lawrence said, " "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."
Thanks for listening God,
Derek
Derek, lets make a deal. I'll keep reading your blog, if you keep reading mine. I started on a quest for evidence to prove God's existence to the world, at a very young age. This is the culmination of all the information I've had the pleasure to ingest... http://www.antichristian-phenomenon.com/antichrist/faith-phony
ReplyDeleteI would be happy to read your blog. I am not sure that you will find evidence to prove God's existence in my blog. This is more just my thoughts to God. However, I would love to have you read my thoughts and I would like to read yours. I hope that we both can keep an open mind.
ReplyDeleteDerek, I always thought you were a smart guy that radiated positive energy. I was right, look where you are. Beautiful wife, kids, and in a position to help people that feel they need it. On the ground floor, you are probably doing great things to help good people. But you don't see the problems. That's because they start just as the perpetual power gets above your (current) head. I have a very open mind. I question everything and refuse to believe ANYTHING without proof. (may have something to do with the Santa Clause debacle when i was young. I knew it was fake, in lieu of everyone trying to convince me it was real.) I don't find courage in blindly following orders. Nor do I see virtue in believing stories that contradict common sense, mathematics, and science. For God so loved the world that He gave His only son to be tortured and brutally executed?! huh?! The loving, just, God whom created everything, that can solve problems anyway He chooses, and that's what He came up with?! The first page of the bible and EVERY science textbook in the world differ. Once you realize why you are athiest to every single religion on the planet that is NOT yours, you may begin to realize why you should go one step further. I have spent a lifetime searching for this God you blog to. I'm yet to find any evidence at all. As a matter of fact, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is offering a one million dollar reward to anyone that can prove that Jesus is not actually the son of the FSM. - This comment section is probably not the palace for this discussion. This is the last one.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of being present is one thing, among many, I am struggling with right now. Thank you for writing this. It is interesting to me how much inner turmoil many of us have in common but don't share or don't REALLY share. How awesome would it be, and life changing, if we were truly present with one another and sharing these burdens and concerns?
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