Hog Ties and Big Wheels

I understand more and more why some animals eat their young.  No, I’m not espousing that practice, but sometimes it seems like that may be the only way to deal wit the mystery that is raising children in this mixed up world.  I shut down last night.  I picked up the Bible to read a story to the Bryant Crew, but I just couldn’t do it.  I was so angry and frustrated with our 5-year-old son, Levi, I couldn’t even calm my brain down enough to focus on what passage I should even read.  If it wasn’t just plain wrong and I wouldn’t go to jail for it, I think I may have strung him up, hog tied him to his Big Wheel, and sent it off down the hill by our house.  What is it with young children at times that they think they know what’s best for them, so they turn a deaf ear to anything we as parents say?  If I had to ask him one more time to "sit up in his seat instead of laying across it like Superman while poking his sister with his fork...", "use his manners...", "eat instead of talk...", and, "YES, you do have to eat all of your carrots for the millionth time..."—while also explaining the importance of first time obedience and what disobedience says about his heart—I almost for a moment considered the thought that going to jail for sending him hog tied over the hill on his Big Wheel may not be so bad after all.  If I was in jail I could read all day, write my blog in my cell at night, and get 3 square meals without any interruption from a 5-year-old who lives to see how many lines he can cross and how many envelopes he can push.  I figure he will be joining me in jail in about 15 years anyway if things keep going like they are, so why not get there before he does so I can show him the ropes when he comes.  


Okay, I know…I’m getting a bit mean-spirited about it…but you know if you are an honest parent, these same thoughts have passed through your mind.  We’ve all thought, “Lord, just let me strap that child to the Big Wheel and send him over the hill…just once, Lord.”  The truth is parenting isn’t given to us by God to reveal our strengths, it is given to us by God to reveal our weaknesses.  That truth stops me in my tracks.  When I want to give up, when I’m going for the rope so that I can hog tie a kid (just kidding), when I really feel that nothing I say or do is getting through to them, I am reminded that I am that wayward child.  I am the one who won’t listen to my heavenly Father, who, like a child who want eat what’s good for him, I won’t ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ for me, and who has to be told the same truths over and over because for some reason I seem to forget what the Lord continually chastises and reminds me of…only to commit the same sin again and again.  Seventy times seven…that’s how much He forgives us, how patient Jesus is with us, and how we are to be that patient and forgiving those whom God has entrusted us to love and parent...but, dang, that's hard!!!

I heard a song for the first time today and it brought me to my knees.  I had never heard it before, and believe me, being a Pastor, I hear a lot of Christian music, but this song resonated with me because it is written from a different angle.  It is written from the perspective of a believer, maybe a weary parent…a struggling single who wants to be loved, but is looking for that in all the wrong places…a dad who has lost his job or his home and doesn’t know where to turn to provide for his family…a mom who so desperately wants to love her children well, but is so busy taking care of all the household details she falls into bed at night feeling guilty that she may not be doing ‘enough’ to love her kids or her husband.  Whatever your story, this song is for you.  Let the words sink in and remember not only does Jesus save us once and for all, but He saves us daily by rescuing us from who we are on the inside even after we place our trust in Him.  Plus, He keeps me from using rope and a Big Wheel to teach my son a lesson J

Savior, Please

by Josh Wilson

Savior, please take my hand

I work so hard, I live so fast

This life begins, and then it ends

And I do the best that I can, but I don't know how long I'll last

I try to be so tough

But I'm just not strong enough

I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me

I try to be good enough

But I'm nothing without Your love

Savior, please keep saving me

Savior, please help me stand

I fall so hard, I fade so fast

Will You begin right where I end

And be the God of all I am because You're all I have

Hallelujah

Everything You are to me

Is everything I'll ever need

And I am learning to believe

That I don't have to prove a thing

'Cause You're the one who's saving me