{"id":73,"date":"2011-02-03T13:11:44","date_gmt":"2011-02-03T13:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/headofleslie.com\/blog\/?p=73"},"modified":"2011-02-03T13:11:44","modified_gmt":"2011-02-03T13:11:44","slug":"arbeit-macht-frei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/headofleslie.com\/blog\/arbeit-macht-frei\/","title":{"rendered":"Arbeit Macht Frei"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It has finally gotten warmer here over the last couple of days, so today I was able to ride my bike to work.\u00a0 Riding my bike to work means a couple of great things for me.\u00a0 For one, I don’t spend the extra money on the bus.\u00a0 But most importantly, I get home an hour earlier than I do taking the bus.\u00a0 This was perfect because it meant for the first time in several months, I was able to go with Cambria to the park.\u00a0 She has been in desperate need of getting out of the house and letting out some of that 2 year old energy, so this was a perfect opportunity to do that.\u00a0 Plus Daddy just happens to love playing with her there.<\/p>\n

But of course I thought I might have a little time to get something done too.\u00a0 I’ve been behind on my daily Bible reading, for a variety of reasons, so I thought maybe I would be able to get caught up a little bit while Cambria ran around.\u00a0 I didn’t plan to read the whole time, but I thought I might get a couple of chapters done at least.\u00a0 So I took the Bible I’m using, and rode to the park with her.\u00a0 When we got there I played with her for several minutes, and finally took a seat on a bench where I could be in a safe distance, and began to read some.\u00a0 Within a minute or two, Cambria was calling my name.\u00a0 I told her I was reading.\u00a0 So she promptly came over to me, and told me once again that she wanted my attention.\u00a0 I told her again that I was reading at the moment.\u00a0 This was not acceptable to her.\u00a0 She didn’t fuss though, or throw a fit – she simply began to close the Bible on me.\u00a0 At this point I realized that she really wanted me to play with her, so I put it down and ran off and we had a lovely time together.<\/p>\n

But this got me to thinking about the time that we spend with our children, and really just our family in general.\u00a0 This is really a worldwide problem; people just don’t spend time together.\u00a0 For a lot of people, it is certainly for selfish reasons, but I don’t think that’s always the case.\u00a0 In many cases, the people are genuinely working hard, either to provide for their family, or just to give their all to the work they find themselves in.\u00a0 Take for example ministers – I use this example because it is the one with which I have the greatest connection.\u00a0 Ministers can put in a lot of hours per week.\u00a0 Between preparing sermons and classes, doing Bible studies, visiting the sick and widowed, counseling, etc., many ministers can easily put in over 70 hours a week.\u00a0 Once you subtract hours for sleep and other basic necessities of life, you wind up with very few hours of free time per week, if any.\u00a0 So what happens? Other important things get pushed to the side.\u00a0 And while my focus in this post is on family, it’s not just family that takes the beating. Other important matters like health (both physical and mental) and spiritual well-being pay the price, too.\u00a0 The minister gets so caught up in the very good and important work that they are doing, that they forget about so many other matters that need to be attended to.\u00a0 So often their family is at the top of that list of forgotten concerns. And that’s part of how we end up with all sorts of scandals involving ministers who seemed like they were working so hard at being a good minister.\u00a0 In some cases at least, they were<\/em> working hard at being a good a minister, and that is part of the problem!<\/p>\n

Was I wasting time reading the Bible out at the park?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 It’s not like I was playing a video game on my iPod or something.\u00a0 I was reading the Bible and trying to stick to a valuable commitment that I made for the year.\u00a0 But my daughter was not concerned about that.\u00a0 She wanted and needed some time with her daddy.\u00a0 She wanted me to run around and play with her.\u00a0 To goof off and just have some fun.\u00a0 That’s what I did, and I’m so glad I did – I’m so glad she interrupted me and made it clear that I needed to focus on her – we made some memories that I otherwise would not have.<\/p>\n

You may recognize the phrase “arbeit macht frei<\/em>.”\u00a0 I remember seeing it when I visited Dachau in 2003 during my semester abroad. It’s a slogan the Nazis posted around their concentration camps.\u00a0 It was just one of the many ways they controlled the people there.\u00a0 It was a lie then, and it’s a lie now.\u00a0 Work is important, don’t misunderstand, but it won’t set you free.\u00a0 Only Christ can do that.\u00a0 And Christ is the very one who points us to the importance of loving and caring for our family relationships.<\/p>\n

I could quote you a bunch of Scripture to make my point, but I won’t do that here – it’s there for you to find if you so choose.\u00a0 I just wanted to remind you, as my daughter reminded me today, what is illustrated in the Calvin and Hobbes comic above.\u00a0 Sometimes, you just need to set some things aside, and make time for the things that are truly important.\u00a0 Sometimes you need to let a loved one interrupt you, no matter what you’re doing, so you can nurture that relationship.\u00a0 That time will make all the difference in your life, and will vitally change the legacy you leave behind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has finally gotten warmer here over the last couple of days, so today I was able to ride my bike to work.\u00a0 Riding my…<\/p>\n

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