“Faster!’ Faster! You can do better than that!”
The park, usually empty in the early morning hours, was filled with parents and kids…
Something important was happening…
Cars filled the adjacent streets and spilled into the nearby neighborhood…
Moms, clutching early morning coffee, chatted with each other and yelled words of encouragement…
“Run! Run!’”
“Run through the finish line. Don’t stop…”
Flags flew from various parts of the park…
Racecourses were marked with cones…
I walked up to one of the mom.
“What’s going on today?” I asked.
She looked at me with the disdain the truly knowledgeable reserve for the uninformed…
“It’s tryout day,” she replied as she looked at me over the top of her sunglasses.
Not satisfied with making a complete fool of myself, I took another step into ignominy…
(Sorry about using a word like “Ignominy”. But since I’m sharing a story about my obvious stupidity, I feel better doing it with big words.)
“Tryouts for what?” I asked.
Disdain dripping from her fingertips, she pointed silently to a small cardboard sign next to the enormous banner from the local sporting goods store…
“7 Year-old Travel Soccer”
As I watched, one mom left the sidelines and ran alongside her daughter…
“Run, Briana! Run! Faster! Don’t slow down! Run!”
Yes, something important was happening…
I hope it was important for the kids, too.
Suddenly a vision came into my mind…
I saw the church parking lot…
Parents were lined up cheering their kids…
“You know that verse Briana!”
“Name that Bible character, Jason!”
OK… I hear you….
That’s a pretty crazy idea…
It’s just as crazy as the tryouts in the park…
But my experience in the park made me wonder…
What are we teaching our children to value?
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it ~ Proverbs 22:6
God…the God of the universe…not only tells us to teach our children, but since we are all His children, he gives us a teaching example to follow…
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; Psalm 32:8
Teaching that is loving…
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8
Teaching that is gentle…
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mathew 11:30
Teaching that is always there when we need it most…
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
