Before I began this blog, I had another blog on a different site for several years. That blog is now closed, but each Friday, at least for a while, I want to resurrect some of my favorite posts from the previous blog. These will be my Flashback Friday (FBF) posts. This particular post was written almost to the day 5 years ago. Then Bekah was finishing Kindergarten. Today is her last day in elementary school, she will be a middle schooler now. The truth of this blog is even more urgent for me now than it was May 21, 2009.
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High school graduation is this weekend in Tift County and many families will celebrate a significant milestone in the life of their children as they complete High School. Today also marks a milestone in the Duggan household – my little girl will no longer be a kindergartener. At least I guess not. We haven’t seen her report card yet. I get the feeling Ms Dean would not flunk her for fear she would have her in class again next year.
Today, we had the privilege of going to Bekah’s school and watching the kindergarten talent show. All the kids did so well (Bekah jumped rope), and we enjoyed watching them. I did fine except when they played that stupid “Cinderella” song by Steven Curtis Chapman. It is actually a beautiful song, I just don’t like to be reminded how quickly my daughter is growing up and how soon she will out on her own.
I am sure that other fathers and mothers will entertain the same thoughts and process the same emotions at Brodie Field Saturday morning (weather permitting) as they watch their child walk across the platform and receive their high school diploma. Do you remember those “life comes at you fast” commercials? It really does come at you fast and pass by quickly when you are a parent. We would do well to remember Paul’s reminder in Ephesians 5:16, “…making the most of every opportunity…”
In 1967, Charles Hummel wrote an essay about priorities entitled The Tyranny of the Urgent in which he stated a basic premise: all too often, we sacrifice the important on the altar of the urgent. No one feels the negative effect of such a sacrifice as our families. Our jobs, responsibilities, emergencies, and commitments scream loudly that they must be satisfied immediately, while we relegate to “spare time” the most important priorities – our relationships with God, family, and friends.
Parents, our children grow up fast and we cannot let the time pass thinking that we will “get around to” spending more time with them. The time to do that is now. Make the most of every opportunity . . . in fact MAKE OPPORTUNITIES. Take the time to make some good memories now with your spouse, your kids, and your close friends. Don’t let the urgent rob the important.