Travel Lightly
I believe that one of our main jobs as parents is to teach our children that this world isn't our home, and that we really are on a journey. We need to teach our children to travel lightly, and to jetison anything that weighs us down.
Here's what I mean. All of us as Christians are traveling through life, with Heaven as our final destination. But as the songwriter Rich Mullins put it years ago, "The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all good things." That's right, you know. We can become distracted and weighed down by sin and the worries of this world. Instead, let's train our children that life has a purpose beyond the here and now.
One final thought. Why don't you set aside some time tonight to talk to your children about traveling lightly? And if they're old enough, you might even consider sending them on an overseas missions trip to a third world country. Talk about gaining a better perspective on life!
I'm Dennis Rainey, and that's Real FamilyLife.