So, last week we decided to sign our oldest up for a local sports camp. He's been asking to play sports for awhile, and we thought maybe a trial run at a camp would give him a taste of what it's like before we invest and commit to a season long of a specific sport.
So, two things...this is really cool because I grew up playing basketball. I played for over ten years, coached for three, and to be honest...my 'dream' job where I would get paid...would be to be a basketball coach. So when he said basketball I was so thrilled.
Monday: Day One Basketball Camp. He hates it.
Tuesday: Day Two Basketball Camp. He hates it. Even More.
Wednesday: Day Three Basketball Camp. I had to get him dressed.
See, it may seem mean, but we aren't letting him quit. There's no reason why the camp is bad. The coach is nice and knowledgeable. It's physically challenging, and there is plenty of help....good ratio of coaches to players. He just hates it. Bottom line, he is not our most athletic kid.
For an athletic parent...that is a lot to come to grips with. When I first started having kids...I had these pie in sky visions of raising my own basketball team. Yup. Everyone of them was going to be a stellar all star basketball player. So, nine years later...how many play basketball in our family? One....yeah just me.
As a mother, I feel awful. I don't want my son to be somewhere he hates and can't wait to leave.
But, often in life, I have to be places I don't want to be, I have to finish things I don't want to...in fact sometimes the hardest part isn't finishing something I don't want to do...it's actually starting it in the first place.
So, if we let our son 'talk' his way out of something he hates...what on earth would we be teaching him? Quit, just walk away...if it's not your thing...that's fine you can quit. NO WAY!
Life is hard, lessons are tough, things we don't like or enjoy are all around us. No one willingly signs up for something they hate.
But you just do it.
I began to wonder how the Lord looks upon us when we are going through something we "hate." Something that perhaps we would have never signed up for, or ran the OPPOSITE direction of had we known what it was really like.
What if you would've known how hard marriage is? Would you have said yes?
What about parenting? Would you have been so eager to have kids had someone told you all the challenges you'd face?
I've come to conclude...I can choose frustration in the challenges I face, or I can choose satisfaction. Listen to the word of the Lord, "Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:14
Think about the trials of marriage....from petty disagreements to times of despair. We all have them. It's just part of life. Marriage is a blessing. A tool. Something the Lord uses to refine. Silly us, we think marriage is for our benefit...and while it is, I've come to experience, the spiritual benefits of marriage far surpass those of the earthly realm.
Parenting. Oh. Honestly.....this is a CAN of worms isn't it? I mean every time I ask my children, "Why won't you just obey?" I can hear the Lord sweetly whispering the same to me in my areas of sin. He is GOOD! He uses it all. Refining.
I can't see the benefit Joseph will reap from sticking it out at this camp. The mother in me is torn. I can't see the outcome. I'm human.
My God is not! Amen! He sees the outcome. He knows how it goes. He knows what Joseph will gain from not being allowed to quit.
Whatever the situation or circumstance...God knows the outcome. He knows the details of the journey, and I've said it many times to myself lately...."God is not as concerned about the destination as He is about the journey." It's the journey...whether through a dark valley or a glorious mountain top...that every step of the way He is with us (Heb 13:8) and He is our guide (Psalm 48:14).
"For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things." Psalm 107:9
Let your soul hunger for the Lord. He will fill it dear friend, He will abundantly satisfy the hunger of your soul!! He will overflow your cup with His goodness and grace!!!
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