Math for Father's Day: Father's Day Bonus Page
Walt Larimore
Sunday, June 11, 2006
 1 of 1
Bonus Bible Verse: Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away (Psalm 39:4).
When Kate turned six years old, my father called her on the telephone to wish her a happy birthday. I beamed like any proud dad, and then Kate turned to me. Pop would like to speak to you," she said as she handed me the phone.
"Congratulations," my father declared.
His comment confused me. "For what, Dad? What did I do?" I asked.
"It's Kate's one-third birthday."
Now I was really confused. "She's six years old, Dad."
"Yes, but one-third of your life with her is over."
One-third? You mean I was one-third of the way raising this little pipsqueak of a girl who favored coloring books and being read to? It didn't seem possible. She was so tiny. But I instantly understood what my father was saying: at 18, she's going to leave home, and your child-rearing days will be over.
Let's do a little extrapolation. If you have a 12-year-old child in the house, your child-rearing days are two-thirds complete. More than halfway home. You're rounding the clubhouse turn, and the finish line is in sight. Just like any horse race, though, the homestretch is the toughest real estate to cover, and there will be times in the next six years that you're sure your little jockey is taking the whip to your flanks.
—Walt Larimore in God's Design for the Highly Healthy Teen
Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Help me, Father, to make my children feel as loved and accepted by me as I know I am by You.
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