Best day ever....

There are a thousand times as a parent that you know you missed it, flubbed it or flunked it and a few times you know you did it right.

The other day was one of those good days. My son Micah has been struggling at school and we get regular "reports" from his teacher that cover his issues. So we have been trying different things to reward and punish to try to help encourage him to follow the rules etc. We were downtown last weekend and he saw the ducks and wanted to feed them but we didn't have any bread. So I said, if he got a good report after school I would take him to the pond and we would feed the ducks.

School came and went and he came home with a bad report. I was in the office preparing for the message on sunday and heard him outside slamming his scooter on the ground and making a racket with attitude and anger. At first I wanted to go out there and tell him to knock it off and be quiet but then the Lord impressed on my mind to go take him to feed the ducks. Suddenly I sensed the Lord really leading me to do that. So I stopped what I was doing and went outside. I told him that we were going to go to the pond and feed the ducks and to get his stuff. He just looked at the ground with a look of frustration and anger and said that he didn't get a good report. I could see the disappointment in his countenance.

I knew then that this was an important moment and felt the burden on my heart.

I came up to him and touched his hair and told him that "Sometimes we get good things even when we dont get a good report." I knew in that instance that he needed a Father to show him grace because he had tried to "be good" and just didn't measure up. That kind of feeling can seep into your soul and leave a life long stain. I knew he needed to experience grace.

His face lit up and he bounded off to get his stuff. We went and fed the ducks, the geese and even a squirrel. We climbed some rocks, hiked in the woods, visited a pond that had huge Koi fish in it and I let him play on the kids toys in the park. It was a good time together.

As we were driving home, he was sitting in the back and singing a Spongebob Square pants song that has the lyrics:

"It's the best day ever...it's the best day ever...."

Yes...it was.