I Saw the Sign

 

My wife recently lamented that 3:30-7:00 p.m. is the longest 3 and a half hours of parenting.

Between 3:30 and 7:00 the kids have begun to get on each other's nerves, they've gotten hangry, dinner had to be prepared while shouts were heard in the other room, appropriate vegetable to meat ratios had to be negotiated with them, and that's all before bed time.  Bed time too often consists of reminding the little ones of the value of peeing and hand washing while convincing them to stand on the stool and brush their teeth.  Then there's the crying that occurs when we call our daughter Anna instead of Pharaoh.  And the worst part of: Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas... and all this noise wakes our baby who cries in his crib.

Some nights getting them to bed and going downstairs alone feels like our reward.

Not every day is as exhausting as that sounds, but too many days are.  There are some days when we wonder why on earth we do this parenting thing.

Then, I look at the sign our friend Alyssa made for us when our oldest was about to be born.  I see the sign that reminds me of the days, weeks, months and years of begging God to allow us to be parents.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12

That sign helps me remember what blessings my kids are to me.  It reminds me of the very goodness of the LORD that I had grumbled about in my heart.  In that moment I'm aware that I am very much like the Israelites in the wilderness that stupidly remembered their slavery fondly every moment they didn't have things easy.

That sign, that verse, has helped me be a better parent.  I used to not see it so clearly, but then my friend Paul helped me assemble bunk beds.  Tucking Joshua into the top bunk draws my eyes to the Word of God in the form of beautiful art every night I get the blessing of putting them to bed.  

The blessing: that verse helps me see being their dad as a greater blessing than the blessing of finally getting to the daily finish line of bed time.

Do you have signs that point you to the truth in your home?  Do you have physical reminders of spiritual truths that catch your eye and your mind's attention?  Perhaps you should or perhaps you should actually notice them.  

I'm thankful for the sign that points me from frustration to gratitude today.