Pick Axes and Such….

The very first verse I ever remember memorizing…was 2 Timothy 1:7.

“…for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.”

A while back I posted some photos of the boys with pick axes, digging out stumps in our backyard.

Can I just say…it takes everything within me to let these character-building opportunities occur.

But deep down….I agree with it all.

I know it’s good.

I climbed trees and swung from ropes and jumped off ledges as a kid…and I know it’s important.

But–honestly it’s still hard for me to watch.

Partly because, I think if you’ve ever had a child die….you can never return to that “it’s probably nothing” place.

…that place where you believe that “nothing really bad could ever really happen…”

Because you know that there’s no guarantee. There’s no way to opt out of the fact that our days are numbered.

It’s a good thing, in a way, because Psalm 90:12 is permanently imprinted on your heart:

“So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

But–it’s a bad thing–if fear starts to rule.

I was talking with a friend about that. His brother died when he was really little and when it came to him and his siblings, his mom was always worried that something was going to happen or that something was seriously wrong at the first sign of illness.
Some of those tendencies transferred to him.

I’m trying really hard not to transfer my own “issues” to our kids.

Thus– a book that I recently purchased for Jason:

They are checking off the list as they complete them…

So far they have:

–Licked a 9-volt battery

–Played in a hailstorm

–Mastered the perfect somersault

–Kissed hello like the French–that means a cheek-to-cheek greeting (and someone has also scrawled in kid-handwriting on that page a giant “YUCK!”

–Driven a nail

–Driven a car (I wasn’t aware that this one had been tackled…hmmnnn….)

–Thrown rocks at a target

–Thrown things from a moving car (by which the same kid-handwriting has noted “illegal”)

–Dropped from high places

–Stood on the roof (I went inside so as to avoid watching this one)

–Climbed a tree

–Dammed up a creek

–Gone underground

–Made a rope swing

(Besides all the *bonus* challenges that Jason has created on his own… i.e. the pick axes).

And they have a whole bunch with *** next to them.

I’m assuming these are the ones they are excited about attempting.

Which kind of scares me.

Well…today Jason installed a hanging rope swing in our garage playroom.

And of course, the boys were immediately finding every possible way to jolt my heart.

Colson got crazy enough on it that I made him wear a helmet.

I know…like I said…I have “issues”.

But–you can at least give me credit for trying to push through and be happy about their adventurous tendencies.

Now…there’s foolishness….and there’s wisdom….and there’s caution….but then there’s also fear.
And I will not be ruled by fear.

And maybe you can’t relate.
But as for me–when it comes to the kiddos–it’s a struggle to not be ruled by fear.

Deep down though, I do trust our kids to God.
“Fear not, for I am with you.” ~Isaiah 41:10
And I do know that Heaven is real.
And I do know that there is more than just the here and now (which actually changes everything).

And there’s a bit too much bubble-wrap surrounding kids these days. We’re not going to throw caution out the door. But we are also going to let them live and run and jump and experience life and learn to take risks and be a little dangerous.

So here’s the latest possibly-dangerous-potentially-ER-inducing-apparatus that we have willing installed in our home.

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