I have your son in the palm of my hands....

My son, Jimmy is 13 years old. As I write this (early in the morning), he is on his way to Sea-Tac airport with his Pony League baseball team headed for Fullerton, California. I'm told that if they win that tournament, having won the last two major tournaments in the Northwest, then they'll be playing in the Pony League World Series the following week..

I can remember him coming up to me as an 8 year old boy telling me that he wanted to join Little League, and that he wanted to be a major league player some day. I tied to dissuade him, informing him that little league baseball is a huge step from playing ball in the yard with neighborhood friends. I didn't want him to be let down or humiliated, as some of the little league boys had been playing since t-ball, but he was persistent. A year later, and after much pleading (dad, I KNOW I can do it!), I finally relented, and he proved me wrong the moment he first swung that bat....

We'll se e what happens at the tournament this weekend, but as I ponder all of this, my mind wanders to when Jimmy was about 4. His mom was working late and I fed him some cold cereal for dinner- DINNER!

I'm a lousy cook (takes me an hour to cook Minute Rice) so I wanted to give him something quick and easy. As he poured the milk, I began to feel guilty and selfish. You know- "What kind of father am I that I couldn't even at least go to the store and buy him something decent to eat- you don't give a kid cereal for dinner, for goodness sakes!"

I wondered how he must be feeling at that moment, with such an incompetent dad. I actually began to cry quietly. At that very moment, before taking his first bite, he began to sing the little song he'd learned at church, "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me!"

I was overtaken with emotion and had to leave the room, and I felt God saying to me, "Don't worry- I have your son in the palm of My hands. You are not a perfect father, but Jimmy knows that he's loved, and as I take care of you, I also take care of him." Most parents will relate with how I felt. We ARE in the palm of His hands, and He cares for us more than we could know!

pastor Jim Ewing