johnmdemarco posted on February 22, 2011 07:31
I was right in the middle of delivering a sermon when my two-year-old daughter Aly broke free from her mother’s grasp and came running up the middle of the sanctuary, calling, “Daddy-daddy-daddy…!”
Instinctively, I scooped her up into my arms—and kept right on preaching. The crowd probably didn’t hear a word of what I said after that, because they were captivated by the adorable little girl with the reddish-brown hair looking out at them. After a couple of minutes I gave her a kiss, whispered that she should run back to her mommy—which, thankfully, she did—and kept going.
It was one of those wondrous moments when the love of family and work come together in an integrative, meaningful way. I felt that I was living out the principles from a helpful book I’d read even before having children, She Calls Me Daddy. People from that church still mentioned that episode years later, with one person saying she knew I was “real” when she saw that I wasn’t too busy preaching to collect my little girl into my arms.
Yesterday, in the second of this 12-part series, I emphasized how activities that position a person for physical, emotional, spiritual and relational health are key to a strategic, integrative life. Such holistic health, I believe, makes a person foundationally available to love and serve those who matter most to them in this world—their family.
Family will look and feel a little different for each of us. For some, like me, it’s more of the traditional structure of a spouse and children (and even a brand-new hamster that runs several miles per day in his own personal gym). For others family might be close friends, or a roommate, or neighbors, or simply that beloved pet.
The particulars do not matter. The key is loving and serving a few people well in a highly prioritized manner, within in your closest sphere of influence, and creating powerful memories together that enrich everyone. This prioritized love in action both frees and empowers you to do many other things, which I’ll get into next week.
Jesus modeled quite well for us the value of prioritizing family. As a 12-year-old, he already had the spiritual maturity and wisdom to ask thought-provoking questions of the elders in the temple. He knew that his whole life was caught up in his heavenly Father’s work, even then. And yet, the scriptures tell us, he listened to his parents and was obedient to them. He honored his earthly family as well as his heavenly Father.
As a grown man embarking upon his ministry, he was attentive to his mother’s concerns at the wedding in Cana, performing the miracle of turning water into wine. And later in that same Gospel, attributed to the beloved disciple John, he looked down from the cross and saw that same mother and beloved pupil. And made it clear that John was part of his sacred family, bestowing upon him the honor of caring for his mother.
There was never an “or” sense with Jesus when it came to making decisions regarding his family and work. It was “both/and.” He knew that his effectiveness in ministry was fully contingent upon his interactions with those closest to him. Peace at home meant peace while serving.
I’ve certainly experienced that as well. When there is tension or disappointment at home, or if I’ve been caught up in many external activities and putting my family dead last, a cloud can hang over me and my work feels meaningless and uninspired. When I am fully engaged at home and honoring those God has entrusted me—and practicing the Fruit of the Spirit, the attributes of Christ—I feel that I can take on the world.
The Health and Family buckets synergize together, and set us up for meaningful vocational adventures amid the unleashing of our God-given potential.