Key Bible Verse: Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him (Psalm 127:3, NIV).

Bonus Reading: Proverbs 11:29; Ephesians 4:17–19; 1 Timothy 3:4

Cheaper by the Dozen tells the story of the Baker family. Tom (Steve Martin), his wife, Kate (Bonnie Hunt), and their 12 children live in Midland, Illinois, a small town in the country. Tom is the head coach of the football team at Lincoln College, a small AAA team. Kate has completed a book and is searching for a publisher. Though happy, they still have bigger dreams.

Tom's old college friend, Shake, shows up to offer Tom his dream job, head coach of the Illinois Polytechnic University Stallions, Tom's alma mater. This is Tom's big dream, and he's not going to let the opportunity pass him by. However, it means uprooting the family and moving to the big city. Tom promises his family that this will make them a "better family," but it doesn't.

Everyone finds adjustment difficult. In the meantime, Kate learns that her book will be published. This places new demands upon her, requiring her to travel to New York for a book signing tour, leaving Tom to manage the family. This proves to be a disaster, and the entire family implodes.

Finally, Tom realizes he has made the wrong decision, prompting him to visit his boss. "I'm resigning after the season, Shake," Tom says.

"Giving up on the dream, huh?" Shake chides.

"Just going for a different one."

"No regrets?" Shake asks.

Tom responds, "If I screw up raising my kids, nothing I achieve will matter much."

Psalm 127:3 says that children are a gift from the Lord, a reward from him. Instead we often treat them as a burden that gets in the way of our plans. The amazing thing is that society in many ways encourages us to treasure our children as much as the Bible does, so why do we have such a hard time with this?

On the one hand, the media is constantly sending us the message through songs, television and film that we should spend time with our children. But society also tells us that we should have a nice home, a new car and plenty of cash to supply our children with all the advantages that money can buy. This is the area that we have to "tune out" if we are going to treasure our children. We have to value spending time with them more than giving them things.

Being willing to sacrifice time for our children is the height of showing love. It has been said that time is of more value to Americans than money. Also, as in the movie Cheaper by the Dozen, it's hard to give up our own dreams of success in order to spend time with our children. No one rewards you for being a good parent. There are rewards, but they are a long time in coming. At the time you are sacrificing, no one pays you, no one tells you that you are doing a good job, no one gives you a bonus for extra work. Parenting is not measurable. It takes a lifetime to know if you are doing a good job.

So why spend all that time and energy on something that we aren't even sure will have good results? Because our children, more than anyone else, are the ones God has given us to influence. What can be more important than molding and shaping a human life? What could be a greater privilege than pouring everything we know about God into a young child? And as we look back on our lives, what could give us more joy than seeing our children walk in the truth?

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