I called home the other day. I called my wife’s cell phone to be exact, but she was at home so that counts as calling home. No answer. I called again. No answer. Sometimes, because of a glitch we’ve yet to figure out, my first call goes straight to voicemail. But never the second. She usually picks right up. Most times. “What’s up?” I asked myself. So I called back a third time and…still no answer. But this time it rang a couple of times and then hung up. Now I’m intrigued. Something is up, but I’m not quite sure exactly. I think I have an idea of what’s going on, but I’m not at one hundred percent certainty yet. So I call back a fourth time. This is where it gets good. My four year old daughter, Ada, answers the phone. Now I’m at a hundred percent. Just as I had suspected. “Daddy, I don’t know where Mommy is but I can find her.” “Ada?” I ask. “Hey, Daddy. I’m playing on Mommy’s phone and I don’t know where she is I can find her for you.” All one sentence. “No baby. You don’t need to find Mommy. Just keep playing on Mommy’s phone and let her know I called. I love you.” “Love you too, Daddy. Bye.” And she hung up. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. Out loud. I just had a phone conversation with my four year old! How awesome is that? What happened after this is what created the idea for this article. This conversation meant so much to me that I smiled and thought about how blessed I was. In that moment, God impressed on me to never take the blessing of having children for granted. They will always be my children but one day they won’t be children. There will be a day when I won’t have the opportunity to speak on the phone to my daughter while she is only four years old. That moment on the phone was a special moment. A special moment for me at least. Come to find out she told my wife that she answered only because she was tired of me calling. You win some and lose some. I never want to take for granted any of my kids. Or the stages they are in. God has blessed us with six kids. Three boys and three girls. Ages 13, 9, 7, 5, 4, and 2. We’ve often joked that we should have our own reality show: Six and Done. Pretty sure that is what we would call it. Each one of our six is special and unique. My prayer is that I never take for granted just being their father.
I love how each one is so different but yet they are all so similar. I never want to take for granted how my 13 year old would rather hang out with his Mama and Daddy instead of with his friends. I never want to take for granted that my 5 year old loves Super Heroes and spends most of his time showing his various action figures to me. I never want to take for granted that my youngest is now two. That he is exactly who God has made him to be and he loves to sit and play by himself. Don’t mess with him when he’s got his toys (also Super Hero related). I never want to take for granted that my 7 and 9 year old daughters are best friends and do everything together yet they are also each other’s nemesis. But that’s classic sibling behavior. I can deal with that. My brother and I were constantly in a struggle but we loved each other. It’s what brothers do best. It is what sisters do best. It’s what family does best. I never want to take that for granted.
It is so easy to get lost in the struggle of life. We tend to emphasize our problems instead of our blessings. Why do we do that? Because it is SO easy to take all these things for granted. Our homes. Our vehicles. Our jobs. Our way of life. There are so many in the world who don’t have much for which to be thankful but yet they remain faithful and remain joyful. So when the tidal waves of life are crashing on the shores of your shoulders take a moment to thank God for His blessings. Impress this verse on your heart today, this week, and this month- Romans 15:13, “May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”