Monday is my day off as usually my work week is Tuesday through Sunday. Today I took my son to the movies and we saw Cars 2. He ate a carton of popcorn and drank a cup of Sprite. Every few minutes during the movie he would turn to me and say, ‘Daddy, can I ask you a question?’ He would follow that with various random questions about the movie. It was obvious that he just wanted to connect with me every few minutes.
Tonight we took a family outing to Mission Burrito. I drove the kids around the parking lot while Momma was inside ordering the food. We passed the music store in the parking lot and we took a moment, stopped, and all looked at the guitars and drums in the window. My son asked me if we could go to that music store sometime and I let him know that we definitely could… sometime. My oldest child quickly piped up in the car by letting everyone know that her and I had gone there one time on a date night. That was probably at least 2 years ago when we did, in fact, go to that music store together on a date night.
It amazes me that all of my kids have those moments seared so deeply into their memory. It does not appear that they will ever forget a moment that we have spent together. This is convicting and inspiring all at the same time. It is convicting because I realize that I need to invest in more of those times with each of them (all THREE of them). It is inspiring to realize that each of those times are truly investments into their memories which will always be filed away as ‘time with Dad.’
What things are you investing your time in that will have zero significance tomorrow or next week? Parents, how can you make more of these memory investments in your children? Last week while Mom was at Bible Study we loaded up in the van, wearing our pajamas, and went to a friend’s movie/media room to watch Toy Story 3. For the small investment of watching a movie together plus 3 bags of M&Ms, they have brought that evening up in conversation countless times over the past week. I’m convinced they will never forget those moments. Will you commit with me in making more of those kind of memory investments into the lives of our children?