Breakfast

I've now been a father for 11 and a half years ago. In that time God has blessed Julie and I with two more kids who are 9 and 7 years old. During those early days of parenting, it seemed that lots of people had lots of advice. Much of the advice was helpful, there was plenty that didn't make sense and I tried to forget it and then I got some of the best advice I've ever received.

The senior pastor at the first church I worked at was a tremendous man and incredible father. I told me how each year on his kids birthday's, he'd let them pick the location and then take them our for breakfast. His kids were in late elementary and jr high at the time. He'd tell me about the deep talks, setting of new goals for the upcoming year and the high level of gratitude his kids would have after the annual ritual.

My youngest two kids have both celebrated their birthdays in the last month. I gave them the privilege of choosing where we'd eat for breakfast and I made big plans to start talking about establishing goals for them to think about. When they both selected McDonald's for our dinning location, I should have known the level of conversation would follow the same level of quality.

Let me hereby warn those who are considering challenging 7 and 9 year olds to establish goals for their next year of life, proceed with caution. If you're not careful you may either pull out most of your hair or discover one of kids has a goal of eating cookies at every meal this next year. Once I realized my efforts were not going to produce any monumental goals set for either kid. I settled down and enjoyed my breakfast burrito.

My kids weren't worried about the year ahead of them or how to make themselves better. They both just wanted to enjoy breakfast, hang out with their dad and anticipate their special day. Living in the moment and getting the most out of it was their plan. As I've reflected on those times with my kids, I've settled on a new personal goal for this year. Do my best to enjoy each moment, cherish those I'm spending time with and be excited for the day that God has allowed me to live.

Hope the rest of your week is fantastic and look forward to seeing you this weekend,

Pastor Brent