Balance and Ohio State Football?

Ok. Confession time. It drives me crazy when coaches and/or athletes upon retiring say they are doing it to spend more time with their family only a year later to return to said profession. So what happened? Was it just the love of the game that brought them back? Too much family time? You got to wonder how the person's family would receive this news. "So um, yeah, I retired to spend more time with you all, but after a year, umm..., it might be too much time together."

Enter Urban Meyer. He left a highly successful Florida football program for health reasons and to spend more time with his family. Now he has taken the head coaching gig at Ohio State. Hmmm. Sounds fishy, right? Then I stumbled upon this article in the NYtimes. http://tinyurl.com/84non33. The article is focused on how Urban Meyer is determined to do things differently this time. One particulair aspect of the article caught my attention. It was the involvement of his family. I simply love the contract that his daughter drew up for him to sign before he signed on the dotted line with Ohio State.

I got to thinking, ministry can be awfully demanding and often we minister types struggle with balance as well. I wonder what things our kids/wives might put into a contract for us. I know one would definitely revolve around the cell phone. I definitely need to "unplug" more. It may be small, but sitting down to watch a movie with the kids, but constantly checking twitter, facebook, etc. communicates something. I loved the blog post by Jon Acuff (http://tinyurl.com/7scpbhk) that simply reminds us to hang up the phone before walking through the door. Be excited to see your family and engage with them. Don't rob that moment by walking in talking on the phone. Hang up first. Simple, right? My second thought is I simply want to be more playful. I want to seize every opportunity to laugh and enjoy each other. As I approach 40 here in a couple of months, I've noticed a tendency through the years to simply back off on the playful side, often just from being spent or tired. So I want to be the yes Dad. "Hey dad, you want to play catch?", "You want to play hide and seek with us?", "Raise you to the car?" You betcha. When we say yes to those moments it communicates to our family more than just I love you. It says I actually like you too. Our children and our families are to be enjoyed, not just cared for. God is a great teacher on this one. He didn't just create us and care for us. He delights in His creation.

So...What guidelines do you think your family might add to help you be the Father and Dad God desires?