Patrick Rhone, a friend and writing colleague of many of ours, went on a social network path at one point in time when posting about his family and family activities. ”This is important.” he would write, over and over again.

”This is important.” has become my new favourite slogan as of late.

When an old friend, whom you haven’t seen for 10 years, walks past you on the street, you stop, talk, and give each other hug. This is important.

When your time on-screen is about to debut in front of 700 people and your newborn needs a diaper change, you change the diaper. This is important.

When you drop off your toddler at pre-school for the first time and he doesn’t want you to leave his side, you stay and play with him despite being late for work. This is important.

When you stayed late playing with your son at pre-school and you have an important work project to finish, you stay late and finish. This is important.

When you finish supper, jump on the couch to watch the baseball game, and want to fall asleep, you fall asleep. This is important.

When a client calls over your family supper with an emergency, you answer the call. This is important.

When your child has nightmares and simply can’t get back to sleep without mom or dad, you let them crawl into the middle of the bed and you hold yourself on the edge of the bed for the rest of the night. This is important.

When you have a chance to purchase tickets to that important football game and you question whether it’s worth the money, you purchase the tickets. This is important.

When your alarm clock blares at 7:30AM Sunday morning after a hard, hard week at the office, reminding you to get ready to go to church, you get your butt out of bed and get dressed to go to church. This is important.

To everything, there is a season.

Work cannot always come first. Family cannot always be prioritized.

Rest and relaxation sometimes must come later, after the hard work is done. Hard work can be done after you’ve had some time away.

Money should be saved. Yet sometimes, you should go into debt to have some fun.

Wherever you may find yourself, life must be lived.

This is important.