Sometimes I feel like I'm running on squirrel power, too.
Tonight I’m tired. After a winter storm system passed through the Southeast last evening and night, God graciously answered a prayer to let the freezing rain turn into regular rain to wash away the ice. I awoke this morning to a set of clear roads in our area. After a good breakfast, David and I left for Atlanta to meet with godly man #45, Nathan Ridgeway. We planned to make the trip in about 2 hours. The traffic had other plans.
Due to I-75 being closed, and due to several schools opening up at later times, AND due to everyone and their brother deciding that the mid morning was the best time to begin the annual wildebeest herd migration into Atlanta, we were delayed quite a bit. I was reminded of the importance of patience and not being so tied to a time schedule.
Nonetheless, I dropped David off and took care of a meeting and some errands before returning about 5 hours later. After a nice dinner and chat with Nathan, we headed for home again. The rain decided to accompany us for a good portion of the journey along with more wildebeest who decided they didn’t want to stay in Atlanta for the night.
We arrived home around 9:30 pm. I had driven probably 6.5+ hours today. My body was tired. My legs were tired from driving a manual transmission vehicle which was not blessed with cruise control by its maker. Probably more draining was the fact that my mind was tired.
I’m sitting here after having relaxed a bit and am reflecting on the fact that very few of us sign up for the Parenting package with a full understanding of what it entails. As tired as I am, I’m still filled with joy that my son is getting to meet and be influenced by the lives, testimonies and wisdom shared by such an array of men. I’m quite grateful, really, that each of them is willing to take some time out of his busy schedule to impact my son’s life.
Parenting is a bit like a distance race. You don’t try to sprint the whole way. It feels that way sometimes, rushing around depositing children at various locations around a city. But like any distance runner, a parent must pace himself with the view that this is going to take a long time to complete the course. In many cases, simply having the correct framework or understanding helps to alleviate a lot of stress or unnecessary burdens we carry. I realize that in the past thirteen years, I’ve made a lot of parenting mistakes. But I’ve been given many more chances to correct the mistakes and make good parenting decisions. Each one, good or bad, affects my children. But over the long haul, trusting God and trying my best to follow in His footsteps, I am depending on Him to take my flawed efforts and use them to help my children learn more about the nature and character of God.
You see, God is in it for the long haul, too. He didn’t stop working on me once I left my teenage years. His changing grace has continued throughout my adult life and will be with me until the day I die. Always molding, shaping me into the image of His dear Son. The opportunities He gives to me as a parent are yet another way that He is helping me to continue to grow.
So as I look forward to a good night’s rest, my heart is thankful that God my Father does not grow weary.
