Tiger Woods and Nathan Hailey

The U.S. Open was an incredible show this year! (For those of you confused, like I have been most of the 8 1/2 years of my marriage, U.S Open is golf not tennis.) I was rooting for Tiger and Rocco especially since Tiger was hurt and Rocco was the major underdog. But I have to admit, I felt a little sorry that Tiger won. I wanted Rocco to win. He put up an incredible fight to the very end. But apparently Tiger is an unstoppable force, even when his knee is killing him. But bravo Tiger! His determination was exciting to watch. His putting skills unreal.

In the midst of this tournament, Ben and I found ourselves training Nathan to sleep in a big boy bed, not by our choice but by necessity. He had been sleeping under a crib tent very well but then the zipper broke 3 weeks later! The first night in the big boy bed went very well. The second night however, checking on him every few minutes, I discovered that the room was quiet and he was not in his new bed...but I heard breathing. He had climbed back into the crib and fallen asleep underneath a mountain of bed pillows. That's when the notion dawned on us that we either had to buy a new crib tent or disassemble the crib...at 10pm. :) Ben voted we break it down. The big boy bed has a safety rail on the side, basically just a way to keep him in if he rolls. When I checked on him one night I told him to get back in bed (assuming he would go through the opening next to the safety rail). He chose to grab the safety rail at the top, planting two tiny toes in the mesh, and hoisted himself over the highest part of the bed, just to get in! And he's figured out how to pull the plug outlet protectors out of the wall! Those things are not Nathan proof.

I took the kids to the park yesterday and he climbed things that terrified Hannah. It blew my mind. I hear people say, "he's all boy" when talking about Nathan or their own sons. Yes, the expression fits...but only so far. There's just an element to that child that's incomprehensible to me! But he couldn't be sweeter, giving hugs and kisses throughout the day.

I think in dealing with my little "bulldozer" as we have called him affectionately, I've realized that not only do I have a wonderful gift but such a massive opportunity before me to channel that energy and ability. The USGA or Nike, I don't remember which, ran this blurb on Tiger Woods and his father who said something about not instilling in the child his ability but nurturing what's already there. If i'm remembering it right and quoting it right, I like the idea because I think it lines up with how God formed His children, makes them in His image, shapes them in His timing and design and uses the means of parents, church members, teachers, etc.

Some days I wake up discouraged before my little people even join me in the kitchen. Most of the time, I feel like the job of parenting swallows me and spits me out. I'm rereading Ted Tripp's Shepherding a Child's Heart (because I have to read everything more then once) and I'm so grateful for the young mom's discussion group at church as we all go through it together. I'm giving this task to back to Jesus and asking for Him to enable Ben and I, because we are hugely inadequate.