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8 days a week, 36 hours a day, and infinite energy. That's all that I ask for. Not too much to ask right? 

Right now my family is in the midst of an incredibly busy season of our lives. Kelsey has just gone back to work as a casual RN at our local hospital, Jasper and Aziah have begun soccer 2 days a week, Brooklyn is beginning to walk and find ever more trouble to get into, and I have been working to juggle ministry and home life. This past week Kelsey was gone at a conference, leaving me with all three kids to cart around and keep alive. Normally the bedtime for our kids is at 7pm and it has been like that for their whole lives. This week while she was gone however, due to soccer and our Alpha program, their bedtimes were pushed closer to 8:30/8:45pm. Needless to say, I ran the kids home from these events as quickly as possible and prepared them for bed as quickly as possible. I was tossing a bottle of milk at Brooklyn while changing Aziah's diaper and calling out to Jasper to stop running around the house naked. It was pure chaos, but my goal was clear: Get the kids in bed NOW. As I'm shepherding them towards their beds however, Jasper looks up and me and asks a very simple question: 

But what about the Bible?

Such a simple question yet it was such a complicated process in my head at that moment. Right away I told him we couldn't tonight as it was past their bedtime and they needed to get to bed. In my mind however the complications with my argument began:

  • I know that when I put them to bed, it's probably a good 5min - 1hour of going back and forth to the boys' room to tell them to go to sleep.
  • I know that the Bible that we have for the kids takes anywhere from 3min - 5min to read one story.
  • I know that my goal is to get them into bed because I really want ME time. 

As the complications sifted through my mind, I was hit with this thought: You make time for what matters. I was tired from a long day and from getting the kids home late, but I would make time before bed to have ME time. I was fully prepared with excuses, but the reality was that I was not prioritizing reading the Bible to my kids before bed that night. I've heard it said that if you can't say Amen, say Ouch. 

In the midst of our busyness we prioritize the things that matter in our life. Jasper realized this and taught me a valuable lesson that I'll no doubt have to re-learn dozens of times over in the future. I'm imperfect. But it makes me wonder, what is it that prioritizes our time? What is it that we put our time and energy into? What about the Bible?