There’s something very interesting about life being a parent…it seems like every one of your thoughts winds up being interrupted. If it isn’t a question from a sweet darling daughter, it’s my wife talking about what the next need of growing children happens to be (who knew 3 year olds could grow out of shoes so fast) or it’s my own worries about the future or it’s the demand of sleep at the last moments of the day.

My wife and I are always talking about things we want to do, to accomplish. Being the youngest, we find it easy to measure our worth by how much we do. I remember many years of seeing an older sibling accomplish something and how one day I’d do the same or better. Somehow they kept doing things I also wanted to do, and I kept having to replace my unfinished goal with the next.

And while in the “busyness” of raising two beautiful little girls, managing a home and job, we find ourselves at odds with the desire to accomplish and finish things. Our greatest fear is to be known as people who don’t follow through.

A friend of mine told me he didn’t know of any couple that set more goals than me and my wife. That would almost be a complement except for the rest of the statement that didn’t come out, “and achieve those goals.”

So my wife and I have been talking a lot about how we need to learn to simply “be” who we are. Right now I’m not in a full time ministry, so we can afford to not be at every church function. I have a relatively easy work schedule, so I can usually be home with my wife and girls each night and weekend.

Do we want to do more? Of course, because God made us that way. We want to lead and help others accomplish great things for their savior. I want to be a full time pastor again and spend my time helping people in need. Emily wants to be part of a deeply theological discussion group with young women who are poised to be married or who are just starting their careers. But for now, we are trusting that God has more in store for us when the time is right.

So, what’s been going on? Not much – just staying busy raising little girls to love God, to do our best in the circle of friends around us, and do my best at work so I can continue to provide for my family. That seems to be enough for now!

Today, I was privileged to finish up Joni Eareckson Tada’s book, “A Place of Healing.”  It is an amazing book, that I hope all of you will take advantage of.  While checking out her website, I saw this recent post.  I hope you enjoy it (and watch the video).

http://www.joniandfriends.org/blog/loves-last-calling/

Our family has started setting aside Sundays as family fun days. We go to worship services at our church on Saturday afternoons, so we can choose what to do on our day of rest. This is the first time in our marriage that we have not had Sunday morning duties – either preaching, teaching or simply serving the body.

Today’s fun ended, however, when our eldest decided to be stubborn and disobey mommy and daddy. Now that she is 3, some of the previous means of discipline have lost their effectiveness, so we decided to remove a privilege. Because she wasn’t obedient, she would not be able to go to the pool.

While the house is quiet now (my wife and other daughter are happily at the pool), I’m reminded of how amazing our Father in heaven is. And, I wonder, how often he removes a privilege from us while he disciplines us.

I know in my own life, there have been many things that I didn’t quite get – much worse than a 3 year old. And, now, it makes me wonder what I’ve missed out on. What privilege did I not get to do while my father was shaping me and forming me into something better?

Discipline is hard – especially for parents in this world. But, our Father in heaven does it all the time with the best intentions and most amazing compassion. I hope my wife and I learn just a little bit of how he parents us in our daily parenting of our kids.

And, I’m going to spend a little more time today reflecting on the times that I, myself, disobeyed the Father and lost out on something – maybe I’ll also discover I actually learned some valuable lessons. And, I’ll pray that our daughter learns her lessons, too – without to many privileges lost.