Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it
         Than a house full of feasting with strife.
Proverbs 17:1

There is something to be said for practicing what you preach.  This past week, I began facilitating a parenting class based on a book by Tim Kimmel, Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right.  The title is a bit misleading.  There’s no guarantee that your children will grow up to be independent, fulfilled, happy, well-adjusted, gifted, powerful individuals.  What it does do, though, is equip parents with strategies and ideas to improve the core family values and rethink the way we interact with our children.

Our first lesson hit home.  It was on overscheduling and allowing outside factors in our lives become priority over our families, and teaching our children the exact same lesson.  This is pretty much the way I work: I’m on everyone else’s clock but my own.  I work two jobs outside the home, then there’s my church commitments (and there are many), keeping up with the kids and their activities, running the house, and that leaves very little time to be me - to write, to ponder, to enjoy my life.  There’s not much left to enjoy.

So many times we, as parents, get wrapped up in our children’s activites, taking on more and more, and still try to keep up with “our” stuff.  And the family feels it.  Being half-good at doing everything isn’t nearly as beneficial as being really good at just a few things.

I challenge you to take a look at your week.  To see what is going on in your life, your family’s life, and all the stuff in between.  What is really important?  What can take a back seat, either for now or forever?  Make a change in one thing in your everyday life and see what kind of an impact it can make on your relationship with your family.