What it means to be three

Last night I had the pleasure of coaching an under 4 youth soccer team. What a challenge. A challenge first off due to the fact I haven't played soccer since the sixth grade and played goalie 90% of the time I was playing. So I felt at an absolute knowledge disadvantage when it comes to teaching the game of soccer. Second of all the kids were 3 years old. Do all of you know what it's like to teach the game of soccer to 6 three year olds who really have no clue beyond how to kick a ball?

After I got beyond my fear of whether or not they were "getting" what I was trying to teach them, I realized something in them. What I realized was their obediance to me. At times as three year olds they wandered off, or they lost focus of what we were doing, but all it took was me calling there name for them to mentally and physically come back to me. Their responsiveness to me calling out to them was what got me through that practice.

As I thought about this today I so see myself as a three year old Christian. Being a three year old christian means sometimes I wander away from God, and sometimes I turn my focus away from him. What I hope to never forget is what it means to be obediant when I hear his voice. Just as those three year olds came running and clammering for what I was to say next, so to do I hope to have the same longing for God's teaching and calling.

Dancing with Cinderella

I must admit the first time I heard the Steven Curtis Chapman song dancing with Cinderella, I was moved. Having two daughters, Lainey being a bit older is very into Cinderella right now the song just made me want to cry. Lainey allways asks me "daddy will you marry me?" and "will you dance with me daddy?". She also says such things as "daddy you be the prince and I'll be cinderella. Well if this song wasn't emotional enough, over this past week this song has taken a whole new meaning for me. Last week Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter Maria whom the song was written about was tragically killed at their home in Tennessee. In a moment the life of one child so young (5) was taken away from the Chapmans. No forewarning, and no last dances. It rips my heart apart to think about what they must be going through right now. I don't know if sometimes I take my family and daughters for granted or I just refuse to think about or accept how frail life can truley be. I do know one thing, since this tragedy, I look at my daughters very differently. I see the beauty of God in and live for every smile that comes to their faces, every hug they give, and even holding them as they they are consoled in a time of hurt. I thank God for the gifts he is given Susan and I in them. Before we knew he knew. They are not only our children, but they are his. I confess that even though I know God is my father, sometimes I forget that he laughs and cries for our children just as we as parents do.