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Written by Brian Mossing
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God has blessed me beyond all imaginings. I have a beautiful,
thoughtful, friendly, and fun wife, and I have four remarkable
children. Above and beyond even that, God loves me. He has
a plan for me and in spite of whatever problems, issues, or obstacles I
encounter in my life, I know He loves me.
Courtney will soon be 17 and Kristen is 14. Both of my older
daughters know Jesus as their Savior, praise God. They earn As
and Bs in school, work in the church nursery, attend service, and love
to go to youth group. They enjoy volleyball and soccer and
track. They help out with their younger siblings. Friends
of friends of friends hear about what good babysitters they are and
call to hire them. They collected school supplies in the
neighborhood for the local sharing center. They have Christian
and non-Christian friends. Drugs, alcohol, smoking, and sex have
not been problems for us. I love my girls with all my heart and
I'm so very proud of them, but some days I'm afraid that if someone
asks them, they'll have to think about it. I hope they would be
able to force out a "yes."
My son, Joe, is a mere three weeks away from 5 years old and my baby
girl, Isabel, is 3. God has blessed me with the two most
beautiful little kids in the daycare. They run to give me hugs
after we've been apart. They love to be with me and cuddle me and
go to the park with me. They have energy, enthusiasm, and
happiness that won't stop. They beg me to race and wrestle and
tickle and carry them upside down and toss them in the air (and catch
them) until my arms won't cooperate. They want me to protect them
when they're scared. They want to show me every bug and weed they
encounter. They love to show me their artwork and tell me about
cool things that happen to them. As I would for Courtney and
Kristen, I would give my life for these two innocents. But stress
and issues and problems intrude.
Too often my children don't get the attention, care, help, hugs. .
.they don't get the love they deserve from their father. I
confess that I take them for granted almost every hour of the
day. I'm convicted by the fact that my career concerns, cleaning
the house, mowing the lawn, doing the laundry, paying the bills, the
University of Michigan football team's won/loss record, and maintaining
our home often take over and seem more important than my kids. I
know that compared to loving my children, those things are practically
nothing, but I still allow myself to get wrapped up in the wrong
priorities. Why do I let things interfere with God's plan in
bringing four of His precious ones into my life? Why do I let
things compete with building relationships of life-long significance
with my children?
I don't have the answer. I'll continue to dedicate myself to my
children, to knowing and doing God's will, to being more like the man
and father God wants me to be. I'll trust that as He always has,
God will continue to love me, to guide me, to help me and correct
me. I'm just a man, a father, but I'm a man and a father who
loves and is loved by God. That fact will continue to steer my
course.
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