As my youngest son, Jacob, was getting ready for school one recent morning, I went through the normal list of reminders for him: 

Jacob, do you have your lunch?  Your backpack?  Is all your homework inside, your agenda signed, the permission slips turned in?  By the way, where did you put the lunch money I gave you? 

He, of course, rolled his eyes with every question:  YES, Mooooommmmmmm!  As if it was ridiculous to even consider the possibility he might actually forget something.  Whatever.  My last question DID spark an investigation on his part, however. 

I put my money in my pocket, Mom.  The dollar bill…is…right…here. 

He dug around in his jeans, and then produced a one dollar bill.  Then he went in search of the three quarters I gave him. 

I put the quarters in the smaller pocket because I didn’t want them to fall out. 

I watched him struggle to produce the change.  Not-so-small fingers were digging, trying to pull three quarters free of an itty-bitty pocket.  Finally he gave up, frustrated, but certain they were in there.  And then with a sigh he said:

I’m going to have to get myself a Visa check card, Mom.  Life’s too short to let cash slow you down, you know?

I laughed all the way home from the school and went immediately in search of my husband, Troy.  Somewhere along the way we have allowed this kid to watch too much TV.  He is a walking commercial.  I’m still chuckling.

No doubt about it, my children are absorbing what they see and hear.  Not just from the Television, but from me as well.  They repeat pieces of my conversations back to me, words which poured from my lips without much thought, but sound far less attractive spewing from theirs.  Each day I play short but powerful commercials in the way I talk and live and react, little snapshots that communicate loudly how I feel about life, about faith and about them.  Whether I realize they are watching, doesn’t change the fact that they are.  I cringe thinking of messages I may have communicated unintentionally!

Life’s too short to let kids slow you down.

I feel a very real pain in my heart as I write this.  How many, many times have I been so caught up in “urgent” tasks that I didn’t take the time?  As my children get older, I am almost sick with the missed opportunities.  Thankfully, today is a new day, and I need not miss the next one. 

This ability to invest in the life of a child goes far beyond biology.  I wonder, do we fully recognize this?  I think about the teachers, coaches, youth leaders, babysitters, neighbors and friends who have had opportunity to invest in my children from time to time, many of whom are not parents themselves.  Thanks to them, my kids have had a few extra positive influences other than their half-crazy parents and the TV.  My heart swells with the thought!  And what about my own ability to influence other children, beyond the borders of my own home?  The teenagers I passed on the bike path yesterday or the youth who bagged my groceries at the store?  Parenthood isn’t a prerequisite to being able to make an investment in the life of a child.  With every kind word, every encouraging smile, every spoken affirmation of what is true and good and noble, or prayer lifted on their behalf, we have the unique opportunity to capture the eyes and attention of a child, in the hopes that perhaps we might be able to redirect those same innocent eyes to land on the face of Christ. 

In all the craziness of life (and parenting), we can sometimes forget our ability to be a powerful commercial for the love of God.  I believe God does just that for us, providing us with little glimpses of himself, little reminders of his goodness, in the faces of our children–pieces of his humor, his perspective, his foot-loose-and-fancy-free personality, his ability to see life from an angle so different than ours, and especially his unrestrained and unconditional love.  I?m sitting here getting all misty eyed picturing little ones climbing all over the lap of Jesus, and him responding with a smile, Let ‘em come - this is what it is all about.  Paraphrase, I know, but I think that’s what he meant.    

Okay, commercial over.  Back to real life.  Whatever you do, however, take the message with you.