Waiting

It's hard, isn't it?  Waiting.  We live in a time of RIGHT NOW.

You want it?  Go get it!!

You don't have the money?  Charge it!!

What about the consequences tomorrow?  Who cares?  We might not have tomorrow!!

If it's delicious, eat it.  If it goes down smooth, drink it.  If it feels good, do it.  If you want it, get it.  Don't count the cost.  Don't think about the repercussions.  Instant gratification.

Today started out as a normal day.  Monday.  I love it.  No sarcasm, I really do!

Jesus Calling, coffee, sunrise, 1 son up before the sunrise.  Emails, facebook, wake the other kids.   Hugs, chores, breakfast.

TEARS

The crime: 

The perp: 

The victim: 

*I realize this would be more powerful if he was crying.  Use your imagination.*

This son spends hours  throwing football with his dad.  And he's good.  The most athletic of the 4 wild animals I gave birth to.  He was heartbroken to see his dog chewing his beloved football.  My big 8 year old cried.  It wasn't the annoying-get-over-it-already-it's-your-fault-for-leaving-it-out crying I can't stand and have no compassion for.  It was the snuffling-oh-he's-trying-really-hard-not-to-cry-but-he-can't-help-it crying that breaks this mother's heart.  

I wanted to fix it.  I knew I could fix it.  You see, there is a brand new football on my closet shelf waiting for Christmas morning.  The football we (and by "we" I mean Larry and the kids) use is old.  It doesn't hold air like it should.  And now it is chewed.

My mother's heart wanted to run upstairs, grab that brand-spanking-new football and stop the tears.  I would have done it too if it hadn't been for that still small voice I *sometimes* listen to.

"Wait."

Really, Lord?!  I've got a heartbroken boy here, I want to fix it.  NOW.

Oh.

Do I want my son to be like so many people I see today?

Credit cards maxed out.  House overflowing with too much stuff.  Children to different women.  Heart always yearning for MORE.

"That's quite a jump," you may say.  "Do you really think giving a new toy to stop tears leads to multiple sexual partners?"

Maybe not.  But if today I don't help my son learn to wait for what he wants, how will he know how to wait when he is a teenager?  An adult?

The things I am teaching my children today have a lasting impression on their future.

That thought brings me to me knees.  And well it should, because this is not something I can do in my own strength or wisdom.  It takes the Lord's strength and wisdom and that's what I ask for while I am on my knees.

So the football waits patiently on my closet shelf for Christmas.

And my son learns that "weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."