James C. Dobson - Night Light for Parents: A Devotional

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Night Light for Parents: A Devotional

Copyright 2002 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved. Previously published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc., under ISBN 978-1-57673-928-0.

Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc., and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NKJV is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible , King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible , copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture verses marked Phillips are taken from The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips, copyright J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4143-1751-9 (hc) First published in 2007 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

ISBN 978-1-4143-2061-8 (sc) First published in 2010 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

We dedicate this book to the millions of moms and dads today who are lovingly and sacrificially pouring their lives into the next generation. There is no greater responsibility in living than training and guiding these precious kids and, ultimately, introducing them personally to Jesus Christ. It is toward this end that these suggestions and prayers have been prepared. May God bless each of you as you read along with us, day by day.

Jim and Shirley Dobson

Introduction

Many years have come and gone since our first child was born. An instant and irrational love affair blossomed that day between this new father and his baby daughter, Danae Ann, who took center stage in the Dobson household. How deeply I loved that little girl! She would stand in the doorway each morning and cry as I left for work, and then run giggling toward me with her arms stretched upward when I arrived at home each evening. You would have thought we had been separated for months. I wondered: Would I ever love another child as much as this one?

My question was answered five years later when a little lad named James Ryan made his grand entrance into the world. I fell in love all over again. He was my boythe only son I would ever be privileged to raise. What a joy it was to watch him grow and develop and learn. How proud I was to be his dadto be trusted with the well-being of his soul. I put Ryan to bed every night when he was small, and we laughed and we played and we talked about Jesus. I would hide his sisters stuffed animals around the house, and then we would turn out the lights and go big game hunting with flashlights and a toy rifle. Ryan never tired of that simple game.

But those early developmental years came and went so quickly, and right before our eyes, the kids suddenly grew up. Danae finished high school and went away to college. After graduating, she set about making an exciting life of her own. It was very difficult for Shirley and me to let her go, but we took comfort in the fact that Ryan had five more years at home. But again, the years passed in a blur of activity, and Ryan began thinking about going off to college some two thousand miles away. This time, however, there was no one at home to fill the void he would leave. The empty nest had arrived in a single day, leaving Shirley and me unprepared for what that cataclysmic change would mean in our lives.

We had known for years, of course, that the moment of release was coming. I had written, spoken, and counseled others about the experience of turning loose, but it is a different matter when it happens to you. I admit without embarrassment that Ryans departure hit me like the blow from a hammer. Packing and storing his stuff was an especially nostalgic process, as we worked our way through a massive accumulation of junk in his room. Ryan had been a collector of things no one else would wantold street signs, broken models, and favorite fishing rods. The entire family got tetanus shots before we plunged into the debris. Finally, on our last evening together, Shirley and Ryan loaded the remaining boxes and emptied the last drawer. The job was finished. His suitcases were packed. Our son was ready to go.

Ryan came into my study about midnight, and we sat down for another of the late-night chats that I had cherished over the years. He has always liked to talk at the end of the day. I wont tell you what we said in that final conversation because it is too personal to share.

The next morning we drove as a family to the airport. There I was, driving down the freeway, when an unexpected wave of grief swept over me. I thought I couldnt stand to see him go. It wasnt that I didnt look forward to what the future held. No, I mourned the end of an erathe culmination of a precious time of my life when our children were young and their voices rang in the halls of our house. I couldnt hide the tears as I parked the car and entered Burbank International Airport. Ryan was to depart from Gate 18, but I couldnt sit and cry in the waiting area. So I took a long walk through the concourse and returned as the passengers were boarding. Then we hugged good-bye and sent our youngest off to Chicago. I knew that Ryan would be home many times after that, but being on his own would change both of us forever. The parent-child relationship would take on an entirely different character. That is the way it should be, but Ive never liked irreversible change, especially when it involves people I love.

Shirley and I drove in silence to the home where our beloved son and daughter had grown from babies to young adults. There I lost it again! The house we left three hours earlier in a whirlwind of activity and ringing phones had been transformed in our absence. It had become a monasterya morguea museum. The quiet was deafening to us both. Every corner held a memory that wafted through the air.

I meandered into Ryans room and sat on the floor by his bed, where his crib had once stood. I could almost see him as a toddlerrunning and jumping into my open arms. What a happy time that was in my life. The ghost of a kindergartner was there, too, with his brand-new cowboy clothes and his Snoopy lunch pail. Those images remained vivid for only a moment, and then a seven-year-old boy appeared before me. He was smiling, and I noticed that his front teeth were missing. His room was filled with bugs and toads and a tarantula named Pebber. As I reached out to hug the boy, he slowly disappeared. Then a gangly teenager strolled through the door and threw his books on the desk. He looked at me as if to say, Come on, Dad. Pull yourself together!