Tire Swings and Roses

The two "R"s asked me to come outside and watch them play today. Well, sitting and watching just happens to be one of my God-given talents, so I assented. Posy was playing on the play structure. She was next to the tire swing, looking at it fondly. Suddenly she gave it a hard push. I winced. Sure enough, it came back and laid her flat. I held my breath and watched her reaction. She got back up, dusted off the bark chips, and walked away.

I have had something of this same scenario this week. For example, (I'll just pull a random illustration out of the hat), you surprise your daughter with a weekend away to the beach with friends (tire swing push). The next week your daughter is tired, whiny, and lethargic (tire swing lays you flat).

Here's another one that laid me out this week. Your husband finally talks you into letting him grow out his hair. He does and it's curly and you love it (t.s. push). An acquaintance tells you she's thought for awhile that you and your husband were separated and you were running around with some guy with curly hair. That's why she hasn't talked to you so much lately (t.s. lays you flat).
You get the picture?
They're coming fast and furious now. Not just this week, but from many weeks.

You spend your days teaching your kids. Rowan's first day of preschool he learns, "A-All have sinned." Any time you try to discipline him after this he shrugs and says, "Well all have sinned."

You lovingly tell your son to be quiet and go to bed and he responds with, "Okay if you don't want me to ask Jesus into my heart, I won't."

You tell your friend about a fun idea and she does it before you.

You love and it's not returned the way you want it to be.

The list goes on. The tire swing is relentless. I suppose it's the same theory of the higher you soar the farther you have to fall. Is the view worth the descent?
Yes.
I tried to live timidly for a while. If I pushed the tire swing, it was a baby push, one that I could handle the repercussions of. If I soared it was more of a hop, careful to keep the ground close by. That was the worst week of my life. And really, no matter how much you try to manipulate it you end up laid out on a regular basis for some reason or another. So you do what Posy did. Brush off the wood chips and walk away. And if you're going to walk away, you might as well walk over to the roses and smell them.