At one time in my life, I was enjoying the climb rather than focusing my attention and priorities on my wife and small children. The ministry, like any other profession, can eat you alive if you let it. I gave at the office—sixty-hour weeks like an obsessed and driven workaholic.

All that changed one Father’s Day. Before my sermon a soloist sang a song with this refrain:

Slow down, Daddy, don’t work so hard.
We’re proud of our house, we’ve got a big enough yard.
Slow down, Daddy—we want you around—
Daddy, please slow down.

When she finished singing, I went to the pulpit to preach. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. The emotion and guilt left me speechless.

The congregation had to sing a chorus so that I could regain my composure.

God used the words of that song as a wake-up call. With the Lord’s help, I changed. I put my family back on the priority list. Ever since then, I’ve been in the picture. Sometimes a little fuzzy and out of focus, but there. And I plan to stay there. Forever.