Lessons We Learn From Children:

We had a major catastrophe in our home recently.  My wife’s precious Apple computer stopped working (lol).  Well, it was a major catastrophe for her.  She teaches graphics, web design, animation, and a bunch of other stuff, but it’s over my head.

Anyways, she had taken the computer to school to have the support tech. division look at it and gotten some bad news. They said the hard drive was scratched and some other things that I don’t really understand, but in short, the computer was trashed.

I tried to console my wife with “Maybe God has a plan. Good will come out of this.  You know, the useless things men say when their trying to fix a problem, but we usually make it worse.

Then my 14 year old son says to me, “Dad, why don’t we just pray and ask God to fix it?” I explained to him that God would love to fix our computer for us be he has given us a brain, the ability to reason, and talent so we can do it ourselves.  I told him, “In a way he does fix it by giving us everything we need to do it ourselves.

So days went by while the wife and I used our talent, logic, and our great ability of our minds to try and fix the computer, but as the repair tech. had said, “It was trashed.”

So, we gave up, and moved on to other priorities that needed our attention.

That evening, our 14 year old came to us and said, “Your computers fixed mom, if you want to use it.” We looked at each other and then slowly walked to our office room. And there it was, booted up and working like it was brand new.

I asked my son, “What did you do to fix it?” “Nothing” he said.  “I just prayed that God would fix it for mom as a mother’s day present. Then I just turned it on and it worked.”

Lesson 1 to dad: God cares even about the little things in your life.

Lesson 2 to dad: “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

I began immediately looking for my favorite fishing reel that had broken down and quit working, but then I heard a voice in my head say, “Don’t test me!”

Perspective: Is the glass half full or half empty?

I haven't had a chance to blog much lately (not that anyone's reading them).

It seems like I'm going through one storm after another. And right after I get my wind back after having my breath knocked out of me, I get hit with another punch I didn't see coming and I'm down again.

So I always go and talk to my best friend about my problems (and my only friend right now) this guy names Jesus.  Now sometimes he just puts his arms around me and lets me know everything is going to be alright, but sometimes he laughs at me and says, "Don't take yourself so seriously."

I guess if I could stand back and see my problems from a different perspective, I might laugh to.  But when your in the mist of the storm, your mind is spinning around, and you feel like you might not make it another day, it just seems hard for me to laugh.

On the other hand, my wife and kids are being hit with the same things, and they respond like it's just a joke.  No matter what happens, how bad it is, how much they are hurting, they will find a way to minimize it and go on rejoicing like they had just won the lottery.

So, lately, I've been trying to study them and determine what makes them so resilient to everything.

The answer I think I've come up with is "perspective".

They have a whole different perspective about life.  We are all believers in God and Christ Jesus, but their belief is simple and childlike (of course 2 of them are children and the wife is still really a child who never grew up).

They know that forgiveness of their sins and mistakes are wiped out because of what Jesus did for them, and they respond to that fact with thankfulness and joy.  That's where their joy and uncanny happiness comes from.  For them, it doesn't come from what happens or doesn't happen.  It doesn't come from what they get or don't get.  They rejoice in the fact that their names are written in Gods "Book of Life" and that it can never be erased.  Then they respond with the attitude of "I've got nothing to lose", "If God is for me, who can be against me?"

They live with the expectation that God will provide what I need and want, and that little problems and setbacks in life are just little bumps in the road that are just a part of life.  By happening, they just help them enjoy the blessings that come later even more.

I have a different perspective when we "hit a bump".  My perspective is "I must have done something to piss God off, and now he has left me to reap what I sowed."  I know he forgives me, but I feel like I still must pay for my mistakes.  Then guilt, self-image problems, and "Look out! The sky is falling".

So, I have decided (with the help of God and my family) to try and start looking at things from a different perspective the way they do and see what happens.

And so if anyone is reading this, check back and I will update the situation and let you know what results follow.

Peace Out