A Father's Delight

Forgive me for playing catch-up by posting more than once today, but I have all these unposted notes I am trying to clear off my PDA.

My eight year-old son has fallen in love with reading, and his favorite series of late is the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eragon) Saturday night he confided in me that he was not going to read any of these books on Sunday. When I asked why his response was that God has made him feel that Sunday should be a day to focus on God and not on other things that delight us. He also noted that he was not going to play any of the allowed computer games on Sunday either, for the same reason. Needless to say I was floored. This is not a family rule, and I stated that to him, but encouraged him to stick by his commitment so that he would not quench the Spirit if it is truly God who directed him to make these decisions.

This whole thing was very challenging to me as I see myself acting selfishly all the time, and I really need to spend more time focusing on God. I told Wonderful that I am not the right father for this boy- he needs a godly man to lead him. Of course Wonderful gave the pat answer that I am just right for my eldest and that she thinks I am wonderful. I told her she just doesn't want to admit she made a mistake in marrying me, but she just rolled her eyes at me. Whatever.

So Sunday comes, and my eldest gets all goofy and plays with his sister and my wife's puppy all afternoon, instead of quietly sitting in his room reading the Holy Scriptures as he intended. He did read several chapters of the Bible during church and the ride to and from church, but the afternoon did not pan out as he stated it would. What do I do? I simply let him do his thing. (at this point Wonderful would want me to note that I did sleep through much of this and could not have done anything anyway. As she said I slept through everything she probably would roll her eyes again) In fact, though, as I put my son to bed that night I could have rehashed the day and kept him accountable to his commitment a day earlier, but I did not. As I have said, I let him do his thing.

I admit that I am still proud of him for making this commitment, because he heard the voice of God and responded in his heart. His response isn't perfect, and probably never will be. The point is that his little imperfect effort warmed my heart. So God snags my heart over to the corner and tells me- "I am YOUR father. Don't give up on your efforts to make me proud. You will get there someday if you keep trying, and that desire means more to me than some artificial righteousness."

I am proud of the imperfect artwork on my refrigerator, and the mispronounced words read to me from the pages of some difficult Dr. Seuss book. I am proud because they represent honest effort and a desire to please. I am not satisfied to keep my children here, but I am delighted that they are at this place now. My Father in Heaven is the same. He knows we have much to learn and grow, but He delights in our honest efforts. Never give up because you aren't good enough, because your Father is ok with that if it is your current best. Commit to continue to grow and listen for His promptings to learn from your mistakes. I have committed to do so.