My lack of patience causes me to sin… a lot! Whether it’s teaching the 8-yo to ride her bike (she can do it now and yes, I waited too long to teach her) or giving the 3-yo her bath I can find a way to lose my patience. It’s usually because I suddenly start thinking of all the various things that need to get done and how little time there is to do them. It’s not an excuse, just the thing I need to watch out for.

Playing outside with the girls is awesome. It’s been sunny this week and we’ve been outside riding bikes and scooters, blowing bubbles, and hitting plastic golf balls. It gets us out of the house so mom can cook and it has the added benefit of tiring the girls out so they go to sleep quickly.

Embarrassing yourself for the sake of your daughter’s enjoyment has its own rewards.

While getting ready for church last Sunday, my 7yo decided she wanted to wear her purse. I commented that it made her look older and she responded, “I like to look older because I want to be a mom.” Whoa, no idea where that came from. So I asked her when she was going to be a mom and she says, “After I’m married, Dad.” I’m still confused as to how I feel about the conversation.

I’ve been listening to some old Issues, Etc. episodes that happened to be focusing on vocation and they certainly helped me get through yesterday. While my wife was taking the girls to their swim lessons, no small feat, I went to Costco to do some shopping. Then after putting away the oversized package of cheese and diapers I cleaned the bathrooms, mopped the kitchen floor and cooked dinner. While cooking dinner I noticed a few dishes in the sink so I figured I should do them now rather than after dinner. In the middle of rinsing a dish the fatigue hit me and I just wanted to throw the dish across the room and sit down on the floor with a beer. I restrained myself and fought through the last few pots but I was done. Except I knew my wife had a meeting to go to and I had bath (can’t skip after swimming) and bedtime with the girls. At that point the only thing that held together my sanity and held back my sinful rage was the Doctrine of Vocation. Knowing that God had given me this time to help relieve some of the burden of the housework my wife does and given me my daughters to shepherd in body and spirit gave me the peace I needed to get through it.

Now I didn’t list all those things to toot my own horn. In fact, I needed to repent of those things which I should not have let pile up in the first place and of the frustration in trying to get a 3 year-old to take her bath and dry her hair. I say all this to remind myself of all that God has blessed me with and the simple and obvious ways He uses me to do His will.

The Down

The last couple of months have been a struggle with the 3yo in church. She won’t sit and listen to any part of the service and I’m having trouble getting her to stand and sit at the appropriate times. This after a few weeks where she followed along with me in the hymnal and bulletin and even sang along with her version of the Gloria in Excelsis. Right now it’s a struggle just to keep her a little quiet while still trying to coax her into following the service.

The Up

One of my goals next year is to teach the 3yo the Lord’s Prayer. While we were playing last night, I thought I’d get a little head start. So I asked her to say, “Our Father, who art in Heaven.” She proceeds to say the whole thing as best as she could enunciate it. You could distinctly hear “Heaven”, “name”, “bread”, “trespass”, “power”, and “glory.” I had to go and interrupt my 8yo and her mom playing Simon Says, sorry Emi, so mommy could hear it. It absolutely shocked me.

Looks like I have a new vocation and that is of 2nd grade basketball coach. I’ll be coaching my daughter’s 2nd grade instructional team which is a mix of boys and girls. I have always hesitated when asked if I would coach my children’s sports team. I believe I am knowledgeable enough, but my experience with my father coaching me was less than great. Looking back, it was not my dad’s fault, it was my stubbornness and immaturity, but I’m not sure if my daughter is any more mature and worry about how she’d handle it. So I asked her what she thought of me coaching and she said, “That would be so exciting!” My response was, “Really?” She said, “Yea, you could teach me lots of new stretches and basketball moves.” At that point, how could I refuse?

So, I’ve got some work to do to prepare for this new vocation. I also know where I tend to sin when it comes to sports, so I want to make preparations such that I avoid those situations. I hope that I can pass on the fundamentals and basic skills so they can improve, but most of all I hope to make it fun so they continue to enjoy playing.

Yesterday, after pastor said, “Please rise for the reading of the Gospel,” I told the 2.5 year-old to stand up. She proceeds to yell, “Yea!!!” This got a chuckle from the congregation and some nice comments about having children in church after service. However, as the parent, it was not all that delightful. The problem is that while I would love to think this was some pious response, I know she was just as likely to start saying, “bye-bye.”

I never thought that sitting through a church service would be a milestone, but as the father of a toddler, I wanted to celebrate getting through an entire service without having to take my daughter out to the narthex. I do remember getting through a few services when she was immobile. But since she became mobile and found here voice it’s been a battle.

I’m sure we’ll have some setbacks, and we’re a ways from sitting and paying attention, but I just wanted to celebrate this event.

rent a car bulgariaMy daughter has been doing well at basketball. She is picking up the skills and having fun for the most part. The one thing she will need to acquire is aggressiveness. It’s not really in her personality, and I don’t think she needs to be hyper-aggressive, just enough to go after the ball when she should. But I am proud of her, because she’s doing so well when this is totally out of her comfort zone.

I’ve been helping coach, mostly by herding cats and trying to focus them on what they are supposed to do. I don’t try to instruct because I don’t feel like it’s my place and I don’t want to become one of those parents that’s trying to live vicariously through the kids. I do have a lot of fun running with them during the drills or pretending to be a defender while they are dribbling. I had so much fun yesterday that it was the first time in 5 years that I’ve missed playing. I have no illusions about trying to play again. My left knee can’t survive a half hour of fast walking, let alone running up and down the court. But it sure made me smile watching the kids be so happy after dribbling and coming to a jump-stop.

First, true good works, those that God considers good works, can only done by Christians. But wait, don’t unbelievers do good things like give to charity, lend a helping hand, etc., etc? Of course they do, but those are civil good works (good in the sight of man). Good works in God’s eyes are those works that are 100% out of love for Him. So, the unbeliever who is doing his civil good work because it will raise his standing in the community, or gain favor with someone, or even out of his own sense of compassion is not doing a good work.

Hey, don’t we have to do good works to please God? Whoa, that is the worst kind of “good work” because it imperils the soul. We don’t do anything to please God. Christ has done this for us by His perfect life, death, and resurrection. If we try to please God, we’re essential trying to buy our salvation, and that is not love, that is self-interest.

So how does anyone do good works? Even as a Christian, when I do things that look like good works like giving to charity or volunteering, if I am motivated in any way, and I am, by a tax deduction or perceived status, then I have not done this work out of 100% love of God. However, because I am a Christian, this sin is covered by Christ and God accepts it as a good work just like He accepts me, a sinner, because of Christ.

Emi had her first basketball practice on Sunday. The coaches really did a good job of just getting the kids started on the fundamentals. The worst thing for Emi would have been if they got them into a scrimmage the first day. She has some skill in dribbling and passing, but she’s a perfectionist and got frustrated if she couldn’t do it like she wanted to. One thing I need to work on with her is catching the ball. She kinda backs away from the ball which actually leads to her getting hit by it. She had one incident where the ball bonked her and she cried a little. Shooting overhand is a little tough for her too because of a lack of strength, but I’m not too worried about that. Overall, she had fun and listened for the most part. I was very proud of her.