I found myself on my knees praying for my son, Micah.
He had a very rough day. A boy at school had made fun of him and hurt his feelings. He came home to find out he had been moved off of his soccer team to a team with nobody he knew and leaving all of his friends on the other team. Then one of the boys at soccer told him he was a horrible soccer goalie.
His heart was wounded. Yet, he was strong and tried to be OK with it all.
But the next morning, while correcting math homework before school, the tears came. I hugged him and assured him. I reminded him that God is always there. We prayed and he felt better.
Honestly, I wanted to rescue him and keep him home from school, take him to McDonald’s and buy him a new video game to make it all better. And I almost did just that!
But I remembered that as a parent I can't always rescue him. Sometimes I have to allow him to feel the sting of life's hard days, because this won't be his last hard day. He must grow and learn how to handle those rough days in a way that honors God. So I sent him off to school, and I hit my knees in prayer. In that prayer, I was reminded that God allows us trials to grow us in the same way!
God is a good Dad! So I thanked God for the rough Mondays of life that make us more like Him.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4