Friday, September 17, 2010

No more...

soccer for our family (or Palmer)!

You know, according to the title of this blog -- Discovering God's Perfect Plan and Amazing Sense of Humor Each and Everyday -- we are constantly discovering God's perfect plan. Sometimes it takes a while for us to discover his plan...

Nope. Not. this. time.

On Thursday, after a very stressful evening of soccer (with multiple breakdowns from Palmer throughout the one hour practice), homework, etc., I'd had enough. Something in our crazy, fast-paced life needed to change. Granted, I could easily give up my 4:45 workouts (to get an extra hour of sleep, but truthfully, I like my hour of quiet workout...it's peaceful at 4:45 a.m.) So, I prayed. Prayed that God would somehow put an end to the craziness and let us gain a little control. I think at that time, I knew what needed to happen, but couldn't make the call...

And then, Saturday happened...

You know those people on the TV shows that you see fighting at their kid's game -- you know, the ones...that all the parents are looking at, while shoving their kids in the opposite direction because the ones fighting have clearly lost it. That was Brent and I at Palmer's Soccer Game. I laugh about it now. But at the moment that I just got up and left the game in the middle of the game, I was not laughing.

It seems in our haste to integrate Palmer into the world of "extracurricular activities," we forgot to ask him...do you want to do this?! But, you know, children have a way of telling us things. Sometimes we listen. Sometimes we don't. This time, we did!

He clearly didn't want to be playing Soccer -- that was apparent when the coach sent him out of the game for a "break," asked him to go back in the game and a minute later when the coach asked the other kids who wanted a break, Palmer asked for his break. 1 minute of playing and he was ready. His lack of effort about drove Brent crazy, which in turn drove me crazy, which in turn led to "big ears" Peyton making a comment that sent me right over the edge. Yep, I left. Got so angry, that I left. Jumped in the car, drove home and called my Mom crying. Crying. Crying so hard my Mom couldn't understand what I was saying. That's bad. Very bad.

So, after some apologizing by Brent and a quick "Palmer do you want to play soccer?" with a resounding "No!" We made the call. No more soccer. Just like that. God showed us His plan. And the craziness ended. And, I didn't even feel bad about it.

Got also revealed his other plan -- Palmer + Wednesday night KidsLife at Church = A great evening. Since Palmer wasn't playing Soccer anymore (thankfully), and since Peyton has baseball practice on Wednesday nights, we decided I'd take Palmer to KidsLife (45 minutes of music, 30 minutes of games, 30 minutes of storytime) at Church. The first 10 minutes included our typical "I don't want to do this" breakdown, which then ended with crying, which then ended with him finally going into the room with the other 20 kids already in the class making "musical instruments" out of plastic bottles and rice. I stayed for the music portion and when they left to play games, I snuck out. Went back an hour later and this was what I heard, "Palmer, did you have fun?" "Yes!" "Do you want to go back?" Yes! Yes! At which point, he wore his artwork around his neck as a necklace and proudly showed it to Brent when he got home.

WIN. WIN. WIN.

God had a plan and it didn't include Soccer. Thankfully.

So, we're no longer those crazy parents yelling at each other. The Lord is in control and our little Palmer, well, he's learning the Lord's ways and the perfect plans He has for our lives.

No more soccer...we're all ok with that!

Beautifully Blessed and Truly Thankful to have a God that is not afraid to "make the call" for us,
Chasity

PS...the Church is crazy on Wednesday nights...WOW at the children that were there!

1 comments:

Mrs Montoya said...

Isn't it unbelievable how the Plan is revealed to us in the most unlikely moments? I am so glad that one worked out for your family and that you and Brent are able to laugh at it so soon. Love you and your beautiful heart, Chas.