Red headed and freckled, the little boy’s face was flush with frustration. Blood caked his knee and salty water trickled down his cheeks. He yelled into the larger man’s chest.
“Dad, why is life so hard?!?”
Bullies had chased him down the street, caught him and then shoved him down. Luckily his father has been driving home and rescued his eight-year-old son from the melee.
“Dunno, but it just is.”
The little boy found no solace from his father’s answer and continued his outburst, “School is hard, too! Mrs. Bremer isn’t fair! She yells a lot and gives too much homework!”
The father dusted his son’s backside off and listened.
“And I don’t like baseball! I’m sick of playing in right field! That means I am no good!”
The father half-smiled. He wished he could wave a wand and erase his son’s pain. It was pain he had felt as a child. It was pain he felt now. What would his son do when he learned people he loved sometimes would throw him under the bus? What would he do when he was fired? Dumped by a girl? Cheated on? Under stress in his job? But he knew he couldn’t fight all his son’s battles. That facing trials and learning from them was part of growing up.
He carefully wiped his son’s knee off with peroxide. He remembered Mercurochrome and how his own dad would paint an orange smiley face on his wounds. When the bandage was firmly put in place he put his hands on his shoulders and began to speak softly.
“You are a strong little boy. The good Lord gives you challenges because He knows you are up to the task of handling them. Each tough moment makes you stronger. It’s part of your journey. Your mom and I will help protect you -but you have to learn to fight your battles, too. Bullies, tough teachers and the right field can either break you or make you fight to become stronger. It’s your choice. But I know you. You’re strong and determined. And you’ll fight until you succeed. Remember, if we don’t fall down, we never learn the power of getting back up.”
The dad thought about the challenges in his own life. It seemed like the darkest moment for him, too. But he knew that it was only during the bad times that he changed. He prayed his son could see challenges for what they were: Opportunities to grow. He hugged his son and gestured toward the door.
“C’mon boy. Let’s go get a milkshake. And then we’ll sign you up for karate like you wanted. Heck, I may even sign up, too.”
Thank you for your personal insight. Too often as parents we try to fix everything, which is the worse thing we can do. Life can be tough and teaching our children to handle it with grace and dignity is one of the best gifts we can give them.