Lego My Ego

One of the hardest things about sheltering in place with a young family is the blurry lines between work, school and home. While we’ve created some structure and routine, it’s difficult to explain to little kids why, if you’re home, you can’t play. On a recent glorious summer-like day, the kids begged me to stop work early so that we could catch bull frogs that were beginning to appear in a nearby creek. Eventually acquiescing, we arrived at bull frog palooza only to have my cell phone ring with a bishop who mentioned he would call around that time. I quickly deputized the oldest to supervise the youngest and promised I would be ankle deep in the creek in five minutes. Twenty-five minutes later, screams ensued as child #1 was hit with a stick by child #3 and child #4 face-planted into muddy ditch water. My kind cleric friend suggested it might be good to continue the call another time. I assured him I could manage as I attempted to dry off my three-year old with my shirt while holding the phone. He said, "God called you to be a dad first, His call is much more important than mine."

As we all walked home, dirty and dejected, any feelings of being the super dad multitasker were gone and I thought about an old poster we used to have at CLI that read E.G.O. = Edging God Out. That afternoon I didn’t prioritize what was important, I prioritized wanting to be important, at least by my definition. The call with bishop wasn’t essential, but I wanted to be essential. In the fog of these strange times, how am I embracing or reclaiming my worth and purpose in God’s eyes? When taking a shower becomes a major accomplishment in my day, am I willing recognition or recognizing His will? As we enter week 8, here’s to remembering the blessing in doing even the small things with great love and being important in God’s eyes no matter how big a frog you are in the pond.