The Most Important Thing

I am in full time ministry and I do various things througout the day to serve others in and outside of the Church. However, it is 9:30am and I have already done the most important ministry of the day... I have opened the Bible and talked about Jesus with my kids.

In our house we have a small room off the kitchen where we usually do home work and eat breakfast. The table in that room only has 4 chairs and our whole family can't even sit at it. Most mornings I sit there with my three oldest ones while Beth finishes making lunches and Asher (18 months) walks around with a sippy cup (that's offical baby terminolgy) looking for something he can spill, knock over, or dump out onto the floor. After we eat breakfast I read some scripture for my kids, we talk about it, and then I ask them if they want to pray for anything or anyone before we head off to school.

For the past month and a half we have been reading the book of Acts. I don't have a devotional guide or anything special. All I do is read a paragraph or two and talk about it with my kids asking questions and helping them understand it (so far we have made it to the end of chapter 4). Today was especially good for me as a Dad. Asher climbed up in one chairs and was sitting with his big brother and big sisters. All four of our kids were sitting around the table while Beth and I sat on stools a little higher than the table at each end and then our devotional began. Each child participated (even Asher said, "praise the lord" in baby language) and then we prayed together. Today only Samuel (5) and Ellie (3) prayed, it was great.

I share this with you to give glory to God. I am in awe that I get to actually experience raising and leading our kids. For the first 4 years of being a dad this wasn't my heart. I didn't value ministering to my family the way I valued ministering on my block. I did pray with my kids and occasionally read Bible stories to them, but I did it in haste wanting to get to the "real" ministry on the streets in the cities where we lived (Chicago and then Baltimore). God had to lead me through an intense season of repentance to restore me back to being a godly father.

So as I begin my day today I do so with gratitude and thankfulness in my heart knowing I have already done my "real" ministry so anything else that happens today is just a bonus.