You want a piece of me?

Just this past week I was on the floor playing with Finley while Maya was in the chair right above me. My back was to her so I couldn't see her coming. All of a sudden she pounced on me and began to tickle and wrestle with me. I looked her square in the eyes and said, "you want a piece of me?" She promptly replied, "no daddy, I want all of you!" To which I replied, "you can have it all, I am all yours."

Now you might be saying to yourself, "that's impossible Mark, you can't say that (or give her all 100%) because you have a wife and another daughter that deserve some pieces as well, not to mention the rest of your family, church, and friends." But here is the problem with such a perspective - it's compartmentalized. When we compartmentalize our lives we reduce everything to small separate equations, limiting ourselves to each aspect or "box" in our lives. There is no freedom or joy in such a life. When our lives are confined to separate "boxes" we are bound to the rules and regulations that we set for each aspect of our lives. This type of perspective and approach to life can only lead to shame, frustration, and disappointment.

I don't know about you but I don't want to live such a life, so I don't. I can tell Heather, Maya, and Finley that I am all theirs because I mean it. After all, what type of husband and father would I be if I told Heather she gets 40%, Maya gets 20%, and Finley gets 20% (leaving only 20% for the rest of my life)? Yeah you guessed it, I don't think I would be a good one at all. Look, I am not claiming to be the world's best husband and father because I have it all figured out. I don't. But what I do know is this:

My life is not my own. I don't live it so that I may have the most wealth, look the best, be the coolest to be around, or .... (you fill in the blank) - I live it for God. This means that I try my hardest to put others before myself. This means that I recreate and model the love that Jesus has by giving of myself so that others may live. This means that I give my all to everyone I come across and everything that I do. Do I do all this? No, but that doesn't stop me from trying again and again and again.

You see, Heather, Maya, and Finley deserve all that I have because Jesus Christ gave all that He has so that you and I may live.