Genius Dad Move...

June 30th, 2023

For the past several days our family has been on vacation in Branson, MO and we’ve actually enjoyed the hot, steamy weather because we’ve spent most of our time at one of the pools or on the lazy river.

And when we were not in the water, we were reading, canoeing, playing mini-golf, or eating good food.

Very relaxing….

Yesterday, while we were on a lazy river marathon, four people jumped in ahead of us. It was a dad, two teenage sons, and a teenage daughter. Before the first corner, the daughter had started splashing her brothers…as a parent of five kids, I knew where this was headed…..immediately.

Only a short distance passed and ultimatums were offered….and then it happened…the older brother upended his sister’s tube, tossing his sibling into the water and her tube off to the side.

The only thing our entire family missing was popcorn….things were about to get interesting for sure 😊.

The dad was a Type A and it was obvious to us, his kids were each pretty athletic. Right after the tipping incident, in a deep voice, he shouted, “That’s enough!”

The kids got back onto the tubes and resumed a lazy float…but the sibling side eyes and splashing only got more intense.

Another warning from dad….(number two to be exact)…and by now they had extended the space between us to about twenty yards.

Meanwhile, we were just waiting for the next sibling interaction….and then it happened….

…from our perspective, it was mostly splashing water….a sort of wrestling match…and shouting…mostly happy shouts…but nonetheless, this was the third interaction of the short trip down the lazy river.

Dad made no shouts…and for a moment I wondered if he had lost control….NOT AT ALL. I was about to experience one of the best dad moves I’ve ever seen….

As the water settled, we all looked at the family in front of us and it was almost surreal…..both the teenage son and daughter who had been splashing and fighting in the water were back to back….IN THE SAME TUBE!

It was parenting genius!

And Leigh-Ann and I were full of respect. I wanted to get an autograph or pictures…and got neither….but this unknown father had struck a perfect balance between holding a line and distributing discipline on vacation.

Well, this Sunday, we will be back from vacation and I look forward to sharing a sermon from Galatians 6:1-10 about a different kind of balance.

A balance between controlling religion and rebel individuality when it comes to the church community and mission. When it comes to those of us in the church serving each other and the world around us, too often we look like siblings fighting in the water, when we should resemble siblings enjoying and encouraging each other.

There is much more to share with regard to community and mission, especially at New Life CityChurch, I hope to see you this Sunday at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity available), or 10:45 am, or you can watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 9:15 am. Additionally, we are also publishing our sermons on Spotify.

Have a great weekend and stay cool,

Troy