Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Reading (01/25/07)
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TITLE: I Read It In His Eyes | Previous Challenge Entry
By David Morey
01/31/07 -
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As I approach the door, I hear a shuffle on the other side. And then a young voice says, “Daddy’s home!” I think to myself, “Just thirty minutes, if I could only have thirty minutes.” I open the door to an immediate question, “Hey, Dad, do you want to play?”
It is not Jonathan’s invitation that interrupts my progress to the den, and my much-desired relaxation, but what I read in his eyes. They explain the fullness of his request.
“Dad, I’ve been waiting all day for you to come home.”
“Dad, you’re my pal and I’d really like to hang out for a while.”
“Dad, you’re my hero. I want to spend some time with you.”
And so, placing my hopes for a quiet, comfortable chair aside, I say, “Sure, Buddy, what would you like to play?”
For the next few moments I may build a siege line around the elaborate fort that Jonathan spent the afternoon building. A ferocious battle follows reducing it all to a flattened, tangled mess. Or, I may grab my glove to go pitch game seven of the World Series; my certain win shattered by his two out, two-strike homerun. Or, we may take the soccer ball for the World Cup final; Jonathan’s masterful kick sailing just beyond my fingertips to win the match on penalty kicks.
It’s another day of magnificent, military maneuvers or superb spectacles of sporting skill and it only takes thirty minutes. And, as always, my son is grateful.
“Dad, that was a great battle!”
“Dad, wasn’t that a great game?”
To be honest, I am grateful as well. For I know it will not always be so. One day I will arrive home to the immediate question, “Hey Dad, may I borrow the car?” And in Jonathan’s eyes I’ll read the fullness of his request.
“I’ve been home all day. I really want to spend some time with my friends.”
I’ll hand him the keys and go to my quiet chair. I’ll sit down to relax. And, I’ll miss the battles and the ballgames. I’ll miss my boy.
But, maybe, the bond we’re building today will reserve a place for me in my son’s tomorrow. Maybe then, occasionally, we’ll build a campfire together as we spend a weekend in the woods. Or maybe, every now and again, we’ll watch a great soccer match together. Or maybe, sometimes, we’ll just go outside and have a game of catch, for thirty minutes. Maybe, sometimes, he’ll be willing to interrupt some of his plans for me.
Whenever, whatever, I know I’ll be grateful. By then, I’ll no longer be a dad of heroic proportions. I’ll just be a dad. It is all I’ve ever been. It’s just that in the midst of raging battles and championship matches and adventures that lead us to the edge of the backyard and beyond, my son, for a time, sees me as something more. Fatherly heroism is not borne of extraordinary ability, but simple availability.
Thank you, God, for this time. Grant me wisdom, O God, for reading the eyes and heart of my son so I may faithfully redeem the time. And, may I some day see him as a dad of heroic proportions, for a time, to the children that are his reward and then as simply a great dad for them in all the time beyond.
"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him" Psalm 127:3 NIV
Indeed!
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