Posts (page 2)
My cousin rented a beach house while their house is being renovated.
One of my favorite past times is to "lay net." This was our Thanksgiving catch.
David said in Psalm 61 “Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.”
Like most children his age Taber has a couple of things that go with him everywhere. One of them is his blanket and the other is his “puppy” (a small snuggly with a little puppy plush sown to it). At night when he goes to bed he likes to have his blanket tucked under his feet and he likes to have his “puppy” draped over his face (this started because the lights were to bright and he did it to cover his eyes).
One night Taber was waking up every 45 minutes crying and upset because his puppy was not covering his face just right. The 1st time I went in to check on him and the 2nd time I tried to ignore him. After the 3rd time I was “not happy” and to be honest I wanted to take his “puppy” and do mean things with it. (I’m not sure if you have ever had to deal with a 2 year old that wakes up in the middle of the night wanting something but in my experience they are so incoherent that nothing you do is right.)
As I stumbled back to bed for the 4th time disgruntled and very irritated I realized how thankful I am that God is not like me. When we cry out to God through the night He doesn’t get angry or irritated, rather He is attentive to our cry.
A couple of scriptures for this season
I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the loving-kindness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord.
(Psalm 27:13-14, NLV)
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper
(Psalm 1.3)
Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit
(Jeremiah 17.7-8)
Recently I have been locked in a battle with my nemesis Taber’s evil twin “rebaT”. My oldest son Taber is not unlike most children at the age of two, or so I am told. He is in the “testing stage”, every boundary, every conversation, everything is challenged and every fence is tested. If I am being honest yesterday I was fed up. Like most parents I was tired, frustrated, wore out, and exhausted. As I laid my head on my pillow and reflected on the day I felt like a failure of a parent. I felt like all I did was discipline my child, raise my voice and react to my son in frustration. As I laid there I was reminded of a couple of things:
- I am thankful for my children; some people wait their whole life to have one to call their own
- This is only a season and my consistency is building the foundation for tomorrow
- My son will never be this young again, cherish every moment
- With work and everything else I only have a few hours in a day to pour into my children, be intentional
- I have one shot to train my children in the way they should go and every moment past is a moment lost and it is either a teaching opportunity or wasted experience
As I drifted off to sleep I found myself thanking God for my sons and looking forward to another day of intentionality.
