Every four years the Olympics transfix me.
And by transfixed, I mean I will watch sports that I soon will forget are played - for another 4 years.
Seriously...
Curling?
Finally, a sport I’m built for!
Did I miss the strenuous tetherball pool play?
Is Duck, Duck, Goose a summer or winter sport?
I miraculously now have an opinion on whether that landing was 'stuck' or if that person opened up too soon on their triple salchow, like I'd know the difference.
But what draws me in most are the elements of pure human drama.
Sacrifice
Commitment
Pain
Triumph
Tears - of both disappointment and joy
Stands filled with parents cheering on their children.
Contorting their own bodies in a symbiotic tango of a shared moment...from a distance.
Because in the end this is the athletes competition…
their fight
their decision
their disappointment
their victory
their effort
Their moment. Period.
Mom and Dad can drive to practice, buy the gear, cheer, and even coach
(and sometimes we're even qualified to coach!)
Mom and Dad can celebrate…
and commiserate
But when all is said and done...
They will enter the stadium alone...
While we sit in the stands
Because we are participants in another event: parenting
We prepare our children to enter the arena of the game of life
We teach them how to win, lose, laugh, learn, and love
We can instill in them that the sky is the limit on their potential
or
That they'll never amount to much of anything
By the time the Winter Olympics roll by us again, my oldest will more than likely be out of the house, starting to branch out even more on her own.
So unless the drone surveillance market has hit the consumer level, I won’t be able to hover as nearly as effectively as I do now.
My middle child will be close to graduating from high school.
She will have probably decided by that time that I know nothing about anything.
My baby will be 14…and crushing hard over some slacker snowboarder.
(I can curmudgeon with the best of them!)
Our window of competing in this game of parenting is relatively short.
There are no off days.
No phoning it in.
We are to be the ones to tell them there is a God who loves them ferociously…and that same God has amazing plans for them
We are the ones to tell them they are beautiful, smart, creative, and full of awesomeness…
And we are the ones who are to correct their form when they're a little off their game.
So we always need to be willing to check our form as well
I have been blessed with 3 amazingly awesome daughters
Who deserve nothing less than a gold medal caliber Dad
This is the most important thing that I'll ever do
Because everyday's a medal ceremony
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Dt 6:5-9
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