In November 2013 Disney released a movie that captured the hearts of young and old alike.
In the weeks and months following its release there was no mistaking that our culture had fallen in love with the main characters of the movie: Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf.
Shirts were sold bearing their image.
Birthday party after birthday party had them as their theme.
Nearly everywhere you went the conversation eventually made its way around to this movie: school, church, work, the gym. Okay, maybe not the gym but you get my point. People couldn’t stop talking about this movie and singing its songs.
Of course the movie I am referring to is “Frozen”.
Surprised?
I didn’t think so. I have a feeling you were probably frozen in time after the first sentence.
I bet you might have even started singing “Let it Go” in your head when you figured out the direction I was going.
Another song from the movie you are likely familiar with is “Do You Want to Build a Snowman”?
“Do you wanna build a snowman
Come on, let’s go and play!
I never see you anymore
Come out the door
It’s like you’ve gone awayWe used to be best buddies
And now we’re not
I wish you would tell me why!Do you wanna build a snowman?
It doesn’t have to be a snowman”.
Those lyrics are stirring aren’t they? Here’s a little girl that misses the close relationship she once had with her big sister. She doesn’t understand what happened to put this relational distance between them. All she knows is that she wants her sister back and is willing to do anything to make it a happen.
As we consider our own life it’s important to listen closely to hear if someone in our family is knocking at the door of our heart asking: “do you want to build a snowman?” Does our spouse or children feel like we’ve gone away because they never see us anymore?
In Ephesians 5:15-16 we are instructed to “be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity”.
It is never a wise decision to close the door on our family in order to give ourselves to other things. Sacrificing the relationship we have with our family on the altar of opportunity is unwise. The only opportunities worth giving ourselves to are those that give us more time with our family.
The opportunity to be a husband or wife is now; we need to make the most of it. The chance to be a daddy or mommy is now; we need to seize it.
We must listen closely to the one knocking at the door of our heart asking if we want to build a snowman and then respond by giving them what they want. You see, it’s really not a snowman that they want to build with us but rather a close relationship.
We need to open up the door and give them the time of our life. We’ll be glad we did and so will they. [Tweet “Now is the moment to go build a snowman with someone in your family.”]
What steps can you take today to make more time for your family?
©2015 Travis L. Edwards. All Rights Reserved.