Skip to main content

A Day to Forget?

There is no mistaking what caused that smell when it comes with that noise. What started as a bad cough for my 2-year old quickly became the regurgitation of her supper. I wasn't aware that she merely swallowed hot dog and did not chew it. Did I mention it was hot dog combined with milk she had drank? Did I mention she decided to spew all over my bed? Did I mention it was 2am at the time?

So as my wife and I worked together to clean floor, bed, and daughter, I began to think about how my day was going to go. That is, how would my day go that was supposed to begin in 5 hours? It's hard to think redemptive thoughts when you've lost much sleep and you're cleaning chunks of hot dog from your daughter's hair in the middle of the night. In fact, I did not think redemptive thoughts then.

But now, despite sleep deprivation, I am. For starters, what was I really going to do with a full night's sleep? The fact is God gives me strength when I am weary.

And though she may never recall this night, when my daughter was in a tired, messy, and desperate state, the able hands of her parents took care of her, washing her clean. And aside from this blog, this incident won't even be held against her.

It reminds me of a Father I have.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d