Yesterday, while on the bus going home from work, appeared a commercial on the TV (there’s a TV on the bus I was in). It was a Christmas message from the local TV station. At the start, I was touched by how the story goes, but at the end, I had a big question…..

This is how the story goes ….

**Note: I’ve only watched this once, my details might be as exact as the commercial, but it has the same theme….

It is a story about a family, focusing on the mother and her young daughter. It’s family time, mother and daughter is having time with each othe. Then suddenly, the mom’s boss called (through the phone of course) and asked her to do things for him. Mom stood up to do work, daughter said “mom?”, but mom did not respond…

Then, the daughter was playing with her doll. Then mom came with cookies and played with daughter (they are feeding the doll). Then suddenly, boss called in again and mom have to leave.

Then, mother was talking with father, mother is getting in the car to go for a work. Daughter is on the windows watching her mother go out for work. Then father came to daughter, she is crying and said “I miss mommy.” Dad says, “that’s alright, mommy loves you.”

Then, father and daughter is in bed. Father has a book and said, “mom loves you, let me read this story.” Father reads a story about a mother bird. The mother bird is in her nest with her chicks. The mother has to leave most of the time to get food. And when the mother bird returns back to the net, she has food for the chicks.

Dad said “this how mom loves you. She has to go away most of the time to provide you needs.”

Daughter smiled, then she was able to sleep calmly…

Mother came late in the evening… she saw a card on the Christmas tree, it was a card from her daughter. The card was saying that daughter is thanking mother for her love even though she is not always there, and that the daughter love her very much.

Then the narrator says “The real spirit of Christmas is not with the presence of someone, but it is in the heart.”

>>> Sounds like a nice story….

But my question is…..

Is it really fine for a mother (or a father) to have no time for the family because of his/her job that she/he says is for the benefit of the family?

Isn’t this “message” promotes that if your job is for the family, it’s okay that you won’t have time for your family.

I have a family. My son is 14months old. My wife is teaching (half day only) in our church’s school. I am working full time, night shift. I don’t have much time for my son and my wife. And I can see now the consequences of that. Even my wife doesn’t have that much of time. And we can see how it affects our son.

So, the question remains, is it really okay to sacrifice family time for your job (job for the family’s welfare)?