The Most Dangerous Thing
A few years ago I may have listed one of these things:
1) Trips to third world countries in order to share Jesus
2) Driving on a highway without headlights (because the headlights didn’t work and we needed to get home)
3) Trying to walk on a roof without appropriate shoes
4) Stepping on an unattached 4×8 sheet of plywood
5) Walking along on the edge of any piece of lumber
6) Numerous teenage stunts, sins, and general idiocy
But by far the most I have hit my knees in prayer, the most I have felt out of control, the most I have been afraid and unsure is in the parenting of a teenager in this culture.
So how are the kids adapting?
This may be the single most frequently asked question I get since returning from Uganda with the three newest additions. I don’t want to discourage anyone from continuing to ask that question, but the reality is that the kids adapted within the first few hours of being placed in our care the day we arrived in Uganda.
Now, they still have their issues. I mean they are little, cute untamed balls of original sin, but that’s no different than any other child.
The question, or questions, everyone should be asking is, “How are you adapting?” “How have you been transformed as a person, dad, husband, friend, son, brother, pastor, etc.?” What work needs to be done in your life, Robert?”
When I got the call on a warm Southern California January morning that a third child was now in the picture I had all of the confidence in the world that Kristi and I would make it work. What I wasn’t prepared for was that I wasn’t prepared. I thought I was prepared, but the little things are what always sneak up and derail you.
I wasn’t prepared for the increase in noise, the worldview of our new children that they should be able to get anything that they want, bed wetting, and five soccer players on four different teams. I wasn’t prepared to discipline differently. I wasn’t prepared for the change of expectations for my wife and the struggle she would have with the fact that the laundry won’t always be caught up nor will the floors always be clean.
What about this one – I never saw a need for having a deep freeze, but if we want to quit going to the grocery store twice a week, then we better get one.
The good news is this…God is always in the midst of preparing me, and while I may never be completely prepared for life’s situations He will never fail to sustain me in my development as His son. I was a pretty confident Dad before February, and now I realize I have a lot yet to learn and that’s a far better place to be – unprepared and yet confident in the result.