Save The Day

Perhaps this situation sounds familiar.

After a long week, my already lengthy homeward bound commute was extended an hour-and-a-half by inexplicable bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Friday evening I was reminded that my son’s picture day and soccer game was scheduled at an unfamiliar location, far away from our home at 7-something AM.   Exhausted, the following morning we rushed out the door as dawn cracked the horizon.  I got lost.  We were late.  I was underdressed.  We arrived 30-minutes after the designated meeting time, just as the photographer was arriving.  Annoyed parents shivered with hands stuffed into puffy jacket pockets on a foggy, wet field.  Being jacket-less myself in the low-40 degree chill, I opted to thaw in my car as everyone waited for the picture guy to get his act together.  Cold, hungry and tired, a mood was forming…

Soon I was summoned to the parents huddle by the team coach.  Apparently he’d missed an email from the league.  Our game had been rescheduled.  He sheepishly asked, could we “fill time” for six hours at the field or drive back for a game at 3PM?  Fortunately, I wasn’t the only parent for whom a full-day, hour-long soccer game would not work.  As we determined that we’d not have sufficient players to field a team at the actual game time, it began to rain on us.

So what now?

My sons had every reason to feel equally frustrated.  However, they could have cared less.  To my grumbles one responded, “At least I was able to see my friends,” and “I’m glad we didn’t miss my pictures,” and way too cheerily, “now we have more time for our day!”  They suggested that we find a place where they could have a second breakfast and warm up with something hot and sweet.  OK, whatever.

When we arrived at The Original Pancake House, no less than 30 ravenous people waited eagerly as the cue extended beyond the restaurant’s cozy lobby out to the patio and into the parking lot.  I thought – GAME OVER!  Undeterred, my sons pressed that we wait.  When all those before us were seated, as well as, mysteriously, some who arrived after us, we were ushered to our table.  I sat and everything changed. 

A cheerful and attentive server supplied copious amounts of caffeine, and quickly delivered delectable cinnamon apple German pancakes and others frothing with whipped cream and dripping with hot syrup.  Sizzling, crisp bacon wafted a smoky aroma that gifted memories of my childhood.  The boys joked and laughed, making up memory games and drawing good-natured caricatures on the restaurant-supplied Etch-a-Sketches (a fantastic idea, by the way). Warm, fed and hydrated it settled in - the day had been saved.

Thinking back just one hour I realized that the tipping point was the “what now” moment in the car.  My boys’ ability to find beauty in the ashes led us down a significantly different path, likely for the remainder of the day.  They were the ying to my yang.  I was reminded and inspired to look for opportunities to be the sun amidst other’s cloudy days instead of being the lightning.

I wonder if the real purpose of the day’s string of previous fiascos was simply to set-up that very moment with my boys.  In it, Psalm 127 : 3-4 became alive.

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!”

As parents, we should be aware of the living example God has entrusted to our care.  Despite the circumstances of daily life and setbacks both large and small, we are challenged to be appreciative, to be flexible, and to live in the joy of the moment in a child-like manner.  More than our moods are at stake.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 18:1-3

PRAYER: Father, we thank you for the blessing of children and ask for your help and continual reminder to also live in the hope and faith that they naturally display.  Amen.