sideline parenting (7 of 16) — laughing at God

Parenting Advice from the World’s Greatest Coaches (with a charlie’s house magillicutty)

“Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it’s because you’ve started to think of failure.”   —   (Tommy Lasorda, former LA Dodgers Manager)

I guess, when it comes to parenting, we can tend to stress out about things. There are so many balls that we have to juggle to make sure that everything goes right. The responsibility can be overwhelming. The financial burden can be frustrating. The decisions can be mind-bending. As a matter of fact, the only thing worse than the thought of dropping one of those balls is the reality of “when it rains, it pours”. Sometimes it feels like you have not only dropped all of your balls, but they are bouncing so out of control that you can’t get your hands on any of them.

Think about action hero’s.

What do The Transporter, XXX, Jason Bourne, and John McLane have in common? What is it that is so alluring about each of them that causes most guys to get a power boost just by watching them in action? What is it that makes our hearts pound, our blood boil, and our adrenaline move us into overdrive when we see them save the day. And even more intriguing, how do those same guys cause our women to laugh hysterically, in disbelief as they watch these guys swing, fly, punch, kick, or shoot their way in or out of more trouble than you can shake a samurai sword at? I’ll cut to the chase…

They all share a creativity that is beyond rational thinking, the physical ability to pull off super human feats, and an unexplainable desire to help out a number of people that are at the end of their rope. The most obvious comparison, however, is that they are all incredible show offs. They have talents and they are not afraid to use them.

Just like God.

Easy now…I did not just put these guys on the same playing field as the King of Kings; I simply gave you a few examples of putting your faith in the impossible. I gave you a peek into admitting that there are ways to get things done that are out of our skill set. I gave permission to look back and admit that most of these feats are so outrageous, unbelievable, and over theatrical that they are actually funny to look back on.

But that is part of the coolness of it all, isn’t it?

I know that I can’t just sit back and wait for God to do my job for me. I know that it is up to me to make the moves necessary for His will to be done in the lives of my children as it pertains to my intentions as a parent.  I know that I am being dared to move in a direction that glorifies Him as opposed to me and my efforts. But I tell you, it is very comforting to know that He “has my back”. I move more confidently in my walk because I have an understanding that I am not swinging on this trapeze without a net.

I find myself entertained at how much of a “showoff” God is in my life. I find myself enamoured by His unbelievable, unfathomable, unrealistic way of over dramatically showing up at the last minute and pulling of a series of creative moves that would have MacGyver shaking his head in disbelief. And just like my wife watching Desperado with me for the 345,674th time, I find my self laughing at the “you have got to be kidding me” fashion that He brings me to the end of a life chapter leaving me staring at the credits saying:

I CANT WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL!

My point is a simple one. We are not alone as parents. We don’t have to figure everything out ourselves. We are not expected to have all of the answers. We just have a responsibility to glorify God through the cultivation of our children through our family lives. I believe, and I have experienced, that if I make God’s pleasure the priority, he will make sure that he jumps backwards of of a building holding a guitar case in one arm and Salma Hayak in the other, and shoots bad guys by unloading a “hand cannon” into them, while crossing and flipping over to another roof top and landing (with an acrobatic roll) on his feet. All without breaking a sweat or getting dirty at noon in Mexico wearing a suit and pointy boots.

God is TOO funny…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)