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Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; the faithful God, keeping the covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love God and keep God’s commandments.
-Deuteronomy 7:9
Psychologists say there are nine critical minutes for children. The first three minutes after they wake up, the three when they return home from school, and the three before bed. I’d add the moment before they leave for their day. Like many parents, we try to establish routine and schedule for our boys. They thrive in stability and familiarity, especially with the chaos of this past two years of pandemic. I used to drive our oldest to school most days and had a list of little affirmations and reminders I’d rattle off as he jumped from my jeep like a paratrooper. I would say some version of, “Be good, do your best, be kind, we love you.”
Now, he takes off for the high school bus with even greater speed as I clean up in his wake and look for items he might be forgetting. But I still try to remember to say those things as he departs. Some mornings are busier than others, or I’ve already begun to check emails. Yesterday was such a day. He paused in the doorway. “You have to say it!” I looked up from my Gmail confused. Then I realized. So I said it. He beamed. Then he fled. Ready for his day, the battle of high school.
It occurred to me how important those reminders are to him. He knows them by heart and there’s nothing new. But the reminder centers him, prepares him to learn, to do his best, and to be kind... and that he’s loved. As a Presbyterian, I always hope I’ll learn something new in worship from scripture, the music, or the message. But as a disciple, it’s just as important that I’m in worship every week to be reminded what I’m called to do, who I’m called to be, and that I am loved. I know all of that. But being in worship, hearing those reminders, that is my doorway to the week, before I rush out into the chaos. Hope I see you there. And I hope you hear God say, “be good, do your best, be kind... I love you.”
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