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| This is a dangerous precipice |
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
There are roads we all must travel to become the person God has intended. All that is different is the means by which we go along those roads.
It seems the road to Atlanta, as well as the roads in Atlanta, is littered with signs reading "Danger, Men under Construction".
Well, at least that is how it feels to me.
C.S. Lewis commented on God doing work on us in this illuminating passage:
I remember getting "asked" to leave my Mom's house when I was a junior in high school. I can't remember the events leading up to the point at which my Mom had reached the breaking point, but all I know is I was out. I moved in with my step dad and his wife for the remainder of that year and through my senior year.
It was a tricky time and I didn't have much room for error.
A few months into my stay, I was given the opportunity to drive the prized possession: the clutchless Orange Volkswagen. One night, on my way to a youth group gathering, I went down a famously dangerous road, at night, after rain.
The road was steep downhill and had a sharp turn coming out of the downhill portion. The thing everyone liked to do was to coast down the hill, day or night. I had never done it and thought that night would be a good time to try it, once again, at night.
I tried it. Hit a tree. Knocked myself out. Totaled the VW and staggered to a house to call home.
Dangerous road. Sometimes we know the dangers, and continue on; in the wisest of moments we may actually apply what we've learned. Other times, we simply go through life and get introduced to them for the first time.
In parenting, it is hard to know, when taking the offense for your son or daughter, if it is for them or for you. Clearly there are times when it is evident. But I'm referring to encountering these emotions for the first time (or perhaps seven or eight) and then struggling to navigate them without crashing the VW.
I've crashed the VW again.
Our first trip to Atlanta was very frustrating. Yes, unmet expectations play a part at any level of frustration. Z was with the 18u team after having just turned 17. We knew going into this summer it would be his toughest challenge in baseball. We didn't know he would appear in only two of those games out of six in Atlanta with no communication from the coaching staff to Z.
Z communicated with his coach regarding his role and the opportunity to find a team within the organization with which to gain more time. Over the years of coaching, I've learned what's important to the parents isn't necessarily important to the athlete, so there's no need for me or my wife to speak for our sons thereby muddying the already murky waters. We know how that works.
So, we all agreed the best thing for Z was to move to the 17u team for the remainder of the summer. The hitch was this team was coming back to Atlanta for another tourney two weeks after we were getting back from the first trip.
So, we are here again and, true to any proving ground God uses, guess what happens the first game? If you guess Z wasn't in the starting lineup, you guessed correctly.
My reaction? I vacillated between submitting to God for greater purposes and petty thoughts of "why are we here again, doing this? What a waste of time and money! Stewardship! Etc!".
{sarcasm tag}I'm getting the hang of this Christian living. {\sarcasm tag}
In between texts of my wife telling me to let it go and enjoy and God telling me the same, I really tried to keep perspective. But, I'm an irrational parent in select sports. So, I pouted.
I confess this is new ground, I don't handle this well. The practical side of me as a coach knows what is going on but the impractical side sees conspiracy and other nefarious factors at work.
I asked Z after the game about his thoughts and for the first time, he admitted to checking out and couldn't wait for the last out so he could leave. I was already in the car. We've had to discuss how to be a good teammate when not playing, but quite frankly that hasn't ever been a point to have to discuss...until this summer. That's why this summer has been good for both of us.
PERSPECTIVE. Get some.
But, what a perfect time to get him to go to Cracker Barrel. He was all in. Our boys have a serious dislike for all things Cracker Barrel. I don't know if it is rocking chairs or the Gaither Vocal Band tracks. Z says he liked it last night, but we were drowning our sorrows together with Sprites, cornbread and pancakes, so I'm sure that helped. It just opens the door for more Cracker Barrel.
I bought a Gaither Vocal Band Reunion CD, because you can't walk out of Cracker Barrel without buying something, and we played it on the way back to the hotel. I made him clap his hands to "When the Role Is Called Up Yonder" and by the time we got back to the hotel, all was right in the world again.
Matthew 6:33-34 is always pertinent to our will and God's will. Tension in our lives always comes down to when the wills are in conflict. Our prayer is more emphatically today, "nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done".
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
There are roads we all must travel to become the person God has intended. All that is different is the means by which we go along those roads.
It seems the road to Atlanta, as well as the roads in Atlanta, is littered with signs reading "Danger, Men under Construction".
Well, at least that is how it feels to me.
C.S. Lewis commented on God doing work on us in this illuminating passage:
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
I remember getting "asked" to leave my Mom's house when I was a junior in high school. I can't remember the events leading up to the point at which my Mom had reached the breaking point, but all I know is I was out. I moved in with my step dad and his wife for the remainder of that year and through my senior year.
It was a tricky time and I didn't have much room for error.
A few months into my stay, I was given the opportunity to drive the prized possession: the clutchless Orange Volkswagen. One night, on my way to a youth group gathering, I went down a famously dangerous road, at night, after rain.
The road was steep downhill and had a sharp turn coming out of the downhill portion. The thing everyone liked to do was to coast down the hill, day or night. I had never done it and thought that night would be a good time to try it, once again, at night.
I tried it. Hit a tree. Knocked myself out. Totaled the VW and staggered to a house to call home.
Dangerous road. Sometimes we know the dangers, and continue on; in the wisest of moments we may actually apply what we've learned. Other times, we simply go through life and get introduced to them for the first time.
In parenting, it is hard to know, when taking the offense for your son or daughter, if it is for them or for you. Clearly there are times when it is evident. But I'm referring to encountering these emotions for the first time (or perhaps seven or eight) and then struggling to navigate them without crashing the VW.
I've crashed the VW again.
Our first trip to Atlanta was very frustrating. Yes, unmet expectations play a part at any level of frustration. Z was with the 18u team after having just turned 17. We knew going into this summer it would be his toughest challenge in baseball. We didn't know he would appear in only two of those games out of six in Atlanta with no communication from the coaching staff to Z.
Z communicated with his coach regarding his role and the opportunity to find a team within the organization with which to gain more time. Over the years of coaching, I've learned what's important to the parents isn't necessarily important to the athlete, so there's no need for me or my wife to speak for our sons thereby muddying the already murky waters. We know how that works.
So, we all agreed the best thing for Z was to move to the 17u team for the remainder of the summer. The hitch was this team was coming back to Atlanta for another tourney two weeks after we were getting back from the first trip.
So, we are here again and, true to any proving ground God uses, guess what happens the first game? If you guess Z wasn't in the starting lineup, you guessed correctly.
My reaction? I vacillated between submitting to God for greater purposes and petty thoughts of "why are we here again, doing this? What a waste of time and money! Stewardship! Etc!".
{sarcasm tag}I'm getting the hang of this Christian living. {\sarcasm tag}
In between texts of my wife telling me to let it go and enjoy and God telling me the same, I really tried to keep perspective. But, I'm an irrational parent in select sports. So, I pouted.
I confess this is new ground, I don't handle this well. The practical side of me as a coach knows what is going on but the impractical side sees conspiracy and other nefarious factors at work.
I asked Z after the game about his thoughts and for the first time, he admitted to checking out and couldn't wait for the last out so he could leave. I was already in the car. We've had to discuss how to be a good teammate when not playing, but quite frankly that hasn't ever been a point to have to discuss...until this summer. That's why this summer has been good for both of us.
PERSPECTIVE. Get some.
But, what a perfect time to get him to go to Cracker Barrel. He was all in. Our boys have a serious dislike for all things Cracker Barrel. I don't know if it is rocking chairs or the Gaither Vocal Band tracks. Z says he liked it last night, but we were drowning our sorrows together with Sprites, cornbread and pancakes, so I'm sure that helped. It just opens the door for more Cracker Barrel.
I bought a Gaither Vocal Band Reunion CD, because you can't walk out of Cracker Barrel without buying something, and we played it on the way back to the hotel. I made him clap his hands to "When the Role Is Called Up Yonder" and by the time we got back to the hotel, all was right in the world again.
Matthew 6:33-34 is always pertinent to our will and God's will. Tension in our lives always comes down to when the wills are in conflict. Our prayer is more emphatically today, "nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done".
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