Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him…. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
The circus was coming to town, and my wife and I–well, really my wife–had planned a family day.
Getting all our kids and grandkids together at the same time and in the same place takes a little doing. One of our grandsons is a step (although in name only) and spends some weekends with his father. This makes the planning even stickier. The rest of them also have things that could interfere. Church events. Sports. But when it comes to planning, my wife can finagle all those details like a master craftsman pounding hot metal on an anvil. And she did.
Ringling Brothers was coming to a nearby town. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to a circus, but I recall how it looked. Three rings, all with different events occurring simultaneously, and a ringmaster telling the audience what was happening. Cages with lions and tigers, and someone performing dangerous feats with them. Acrobats. Flying trapezes. Unicycles. People performing tricks with elephants. Men and women standing on bareback horses and racing around one ring. Monkeys. Dogs. Clowns. Magic tricks. An endless list of fun and excitement.
All the memories returned as my wife purchased the tickets online. But little did I remember what I had forgotten. Animal rights activists had pressured the circus to end its use of animals. Accusations of elephant abuse circulated. In fact, the show had closed for some years and had only recently reopened—and without elephants or other animals. Unless you count the one robot dog, who, by the way, I thought was the star of the show. We were headed for an animal(less) circus.
Despite the animals’ absence, the show was packed with fun, food, energy, and excitement. They still had acrobats, the flying trapeze, clowns, and enough of other things to more than compensate for the lack of animals.
But the best thing of all was that our grandkids loved it. My wife and I beamed like sunrays as we watched them—from the two-year-old to the teenager—cling to the edge of their seats, waiting for the next stunt. We topped off the day with a trip to a local Mexican restaurant. It was the perfect family day.
The psalmist was right: children are a gift from the Lord. So are grandchildren. And my wife and I are fortunate to have ours near enough to spend time with them regularly.
One adage says we can choose our friends, but not our families. Thankfully, ours all get along and love each other. Even better, they all love and serve the Lord.
Life is busy, but we should always find time for our families. My wife makes sure we do this. She is the family-get-togetherer. Sometimes, I grumble. Not because I don’t love my family or want to spend time with them, but because life gets hectic, and I get tired. But then, I remember. I won’t be around forever; nor will they. And the grandkids will grow up and probably want to spend less time with me.
So cherish the time you have with your family. Be intentional. Your family is a gift from God.
Amen!