Hobby Tradition

I read an account of a man who followed a years-old hobby/talent tradition. At the start of each year he would choose a new hobby or talent to work on, and would faithfully spend his spare time in pursuit of developing that talent. At the end of the year, having become quite proficient at this hobby, he would choose a new hobby/talent, and thus continue the tradition.

What a powerful idea! I thought, "Why don't I do that?", but in introspective reflection on my free time, my thoughts focused on another powerful concept. As I assessed what I do with my spare time in contemplation of focusing on a yearly new hobby, I realized that my family is my hobby, and I'm okay with that. In fact, I think I prefer that I spend all of my extra time (which isn't so very much sometimes) with my dear wife and sweet children over almost anything else. Developing other hobbies and talents is fine, but I want my family to last forever, and I know that through Christ, it can.

I put this principle to practice today while playing outside with the children. The skies turned dark, and the rain came. We quickly grabbed an umbrella and the camera.

We spent the entire rainfall playing, laughing, and dancing in the rain. Hoping to capture our fun to show Maryann (who was resting) and to preserve so the children can remember the spontaneous fun times of youth, I snapped as many pictures as I could. While doing so, though, I realized that I was enjoying our fun time together while staring intently at the camera's small 1.5" LCD screen! The children were giggling, live in front of me, and I was watching it on a small screen!

Some hobby.

Luckily, this realization came near the start of our rain-romp. I tried to still grab pictures, but to look past the screen and hope that the quantity of pictures I took would equate to at least one or two of quality. Sure, the pictures may not be framed as well as they may have been otherwise, but we all had great fun in the process—I was able to dance alongside my little ones.

Now that's a hobby worth having.