“i like the rollercoaster. you get more out of it.”

Love this clip from the movie Parenthood:

 

Grandma is so right. I mean, this thing called parenthood is so frustrating, taxing, wearisome, thrilling, fulfilling, and worthwhile…all at the same time.

I experienced it today. Kids making poor choices, seeming ungrateful, crazy morning…I could go on…let’s just say, we’ve had better mornings.

Life just keeps comin’ at ya, doesn’t it? It’s ball season. Love it. Hate it. Three kids playing ball. One kid taking dance classes (recital this weekend), one kid working at the ice cream shop, one Dad coaching two teams, on top of it all, school’s not even out yet. Crazy right now.

Our oldest has a tough choice to make about this weekend. We’re leaving the decision with her. We told her she’s old enough to make the right choice. We encouraged her to pray about it and run it through this filter: “In light of my past experiences, my present circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise choice?” Love that question. We trust her to make a wise decision.

Another one just needed a Daddy-talk. So we went for a walk this evening. I told her that there’s nothing she could ever do to make me stop loving her…nothing. I also told her that there are some things she does that disappoint us. And tonight, we need to talk about one of those things. So we walked…and talked. Such a good time. Such an important time together.

We ended our time sitting on the front steps talking about life. I told her that God has, for reasons we may never fully understand, chosen to bless her with an abundance of talent. I told her that the only reason God has given her those gifts is so that she can honor him and bring glory to him through those gifts. I also told her that God gives her the choice of what to do with those gifts…and that my prayer, and God’s desire, is that she would leverage her talent for the sake of God’s kingdom. I told her the parable of the talents. I told her she’s a ten-talent kid and she has unbelievable opportunity to please God with those talents. She could leverage them, like we talked about, or she could squander them through poor choices.

My hope for all my kids is that they would be able to carry the ball further down the field than I can. MAN I want to see them do great things for God! MAN I love my kids.

Parenthood is such a rollercoaster. Up…down…up…down…thrilling…sickening…

Today the ride ended with our youngest, when I was tucking him in, asking me, “Daddy, can we pray right now for Jesus to come into my heart?”

What a ride!