The Road Goes Ever On and On

What I learned at Camp

The past two weeks have definitely been outside my normal routine.  We just got back from our annual vacation at Hilton Head, and the week before that I volunteered to be a speaker/counselor at a youth camp.  Although it is hard to get back to normal after either event, the camp definitely had a more profound impact.

Yes, vacations are nice, but when you are able to give  yourself away and see positive results, it can change your life.  I met so many wonderful kids at the  youth camp.  Don't let the media tell you that kids don't want anything to do with adults.  The hunger for adult approval and masculine attention were evident.  The pull I felt from kids to interact with them surprised me.  How could they want to include a bald, overweight, 42 year old father of three in their circle of relationships?  Yet they long for positive adult friendships.

I could tell so many stories, but I'll share just one.  A  young lady I'll call Arwen was a counselor at the camp. After I spoke Sunday morning, I was standing in the lunch line as Arwen was serving and began a friendly conversation.  Arwen is 19, less than half my age, but has a good head on her shoulders.  She is also strikingly beautiful and smart.  But as I got to know her, I felt a prompting and asked about her dad.  I could see the change in her countenance.

She lives in the deep south, and her dad took a job in the upper midwest.  She misses him.  When I asked about this further, I could see the pain as she wondered how her dad could leave her and her mother for months because he wanted to get out of debt.  It struck me like a hammer blow.

How could any father choose to leave a daughter like this?  Outside of military service, I can't really think of one.  I related to the dilemma because I've debated some serious moves to improve our financial situation.  My kids aren't even driving yet, and if Arwen, a high-school graduate, has a hard time understanding her dad's decision, how can I choose to leave my kids?  I prayed with Arwen and we talked further about dealing with anger, disappointment, your parent's struggling marriage and loving them even when they make decisions youdon't understand.  I wish it were a happy-ever-after ending, but I'm not sure what the future holds for Arwen and her family.

Life isn't easy, and unfortunately the decisions we make as parents and adults are extremely demanding.  But when it comes to pouring myself into my kids or into my career, my kids are going to get the lion's share of me.  I went to youth camp to pour into kids, but somehow God gave me more than I gave away.  Funny how he does that. 

Parental Stewardship

Usually, when you hear stewardship mentioned in the Christian community, it means one thing:  money.  But the definition of stewardship means to manage or care for the assets owned by another. 

Why we've narrowed the concept down to money is just sad.  Stewardship can apply to many things, like the planet for instance.  "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it," Psalm  24:1. That is a foundation scripture for biblical environmentalism.  I don't own the dirt my house is on; I only manage it.  Biblically, I don't own the house either. That is God's too.

Jesus also made it clear in the parable of the talents that my abilities are gifts from God to be managed for his glory. So all of life in the end is a practice in stewardship. 

The area that weighs heaviest on me is my children.  I've been given a solemn charge to raise them on God's behalf.  Parenting has to be the most challenging and consequential stewardship of all.  Experts still tell us that even in this age of texting, chat, peers, MTV, Hannah Montana, Twilight (not a bad book or movie, actually), and High School Musical (UGH), parents still carry the trump card when it comes to influence.  Of course, the kids will never admit that.  The point is, I have power over my kids.  I can set them up for success or failure and the responsibility freaks me out.

Honestly, I could probably be a little more fun and laid back and a little less micro-managing.  The hardest part is knowing where my stewardship ends and where God's providence begins.  I will pass on both my strengths, and regrettably, my sinfulness, no matter how perfect I attempt to be.  But that is where I must trust the mercy and grace of Dad (I like to call God that) to reveal himself to them. 

All of my children will need to encounter him one day, and I truly believe he has the heart and desire to woo their hearts to himself.  I desire with everything in me to handle their hearts well, by at least NOT irreparably damaging the picture of who their heavenly Dad is.  Hopefully, I've done that.