“Sweetie, after the article is written, then Daddy will play with you.”

“Sorry I wasn’t home by five tonight, Love. I had to do payroll, and all the guys were waiting for me.”

It’s three o’clock in the morning, and I can’t sleep. My plans for tomorrow are reverberating in my brain. But it’s not God’s voice.

Why is it only after a crisis that we understand the need to take quiet time off? No one cuts you slack for an ugly exchange with your wife, anemic prayers, being too busy for a relationship with your nieces and nephews, or even calling them on their birthday.

Our society glorifies the doers. We have all terribly missed the point. God’s plan for us is to help families function beautifully. By our example, we are to show families of the rebellion how to be filled with the fruits of the Spirit towards each other.

Stephanie, Nathan, Alyssa and I came to Cambodia — a culture where families abandon their children to fend for themselves, where divorce is rampant and money is the idol, and where stepdads chase their wives’ children away — to help them glorify God in their character again. We have come to show that Christians have unconditional love for the people around them, especially their families. And there is exactly one way to do that. It is called waiting. It goes against the rules handed down to us unspoken from our heroes.

I need to stop taking on additional responsibilities, get off my phone, stop working until dark and then work at my computer at night, and I need to stop listening to endless podcasts and news. I need to be still enough to hear God’s voice so I can show my children what a daddy who does that is like.

If Satan cannot make us curse God, He is content to let us think we serve Him while rushing around, being shallow and snapping at each other. We have forgotten what silence is — the kind that makes His voice louder. We need to wait on Him to renew our strength. I’m on the journey to get there. Pray for me. Don’t worry about me if I disappear. It’s because I’m working on myself, my wife and my children. That’s so our influence here goes in the right place, and the money you are sending is worth it. If a Great River person decides to make Jesus the King of their life, I want it to be because His followers do this family thing right. And that’s as serious as a heart attack.

“All the families on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3 NLT).

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