Emily is gifted five year-old with
kinky coily hair. Today, she has arranged a new piece of scripture song during
her music lessons and would like to share it with dad when he gets home. Mom
has prepared dad’s favourite meal, lasagne, baked potatoes & tossed spinach
salad with chickpeas. The day has been long, and she too has a lot to tell dad
about the day’s activities and about Emily’s latest achievement. Dad arrives home at 7pm, tired as usual;
he greets Mom and Emily then heads straight to the study room. He works for a
big corporation and has had tight timelines and projects since the day he
signed their contract. Emily runs to the study room, elated to share with dad
what she had learnt. “Not today my angel, dad is very busy, how about you tell
me tomorrow? I promise I will listen.” Emily turns away disappointed, her hopes
shattered. Will dad ever be available to listen?
Emily grows up unstable, and moves from
relationship to relationship, with the hope of one day meeting someone who’ll give
her the attention that her dad never gave. On the other hand Sarah (mom), grows
estranged from Larry (dad), he’s hardly ever home, and when he is home, he’s always working.
Sarah frequently suffers bouts of depression and anxiety; she develops peptic
ulcers and is now scheduled for an operation. Had Larry foreseen that while his
plans to secure a “better life” for his family were good, those plans would come at
the expense of love and neglect of his wife and daughter, would he have risked?
Many children, spouses and parents have
long lasting wounds from neglect, lack of love, broken promises, lack of time
and appreciation from their loved ones. Mental conditions like depression,
anxiety and stress among others are among the many causes for broken homes, conditions like ulcers
and instability in various areas of life. Have you spent time with your family
lately? Spending time together enhances
ones emotional well-being and behaviour. Do shared activities with your family
like outdoor exercise, attending religious services and family worship
together, having at least one meal a day together without TV, mobile handsets
and the technological gimmicks. Try it and let us know how it goes (leave a
comment below)….your family matters.
“As a father pities his children, so
the Lord pities them that fear him.” Psalm 103:13
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