Jesus Take The Wheel!

This photo has been popping up all over the Internet. It is a great picture of our relationship to the Lord and the relationship we need to have with our children. The pure look of shock and fear upon this young child's face resembles my our first year as parents.
Now it has been quite some time since my last post on this site. We changed the name but the theme is still the same. So let us catch you up on what has changed on the road of life that has led us to yell "Jesus, Take the Wheel!"

In April of last year we had another child and named her Lilly. This beautiful little girl and our growing little boy George V have kept us busy and on the edge of our seats. It has been a true blessing to watch these two grow together. George V is a loving and caring big brother,giving kisses and hugs. He hears Lilly when she wakes from her naps and he gets so excited the more she becomes her own little self... just don't touch his toys! Just when we thought we could not get any less sleep, our daughter comes along and steals our hearts... and an additional couple of hours of sleep!

Lilly is going to be turning one in just a few days. Where has the time gone? It seems that sleep isn't the only thing we have lost track of as parents. Looking back on an exhausting day (mostly for Lisa) it can seem as though all we did was change diapers, feed hungry mouths, play referee, change diapers, watch Barney or Disney's Cars, change diapers, give baths and change diapers. Did I say we change diapers? It is so easy to get caught up in all the humdrum of raising kids that the time just slips away and the next thing you know your babies are not babies anymore.
In parenting we have to "stop and smell the roses" so to say. We have learned that you can't "stop and smell" if you are always at the wheel of life. "Jesus, take the wheel!" and allow us to enjoy the ride. We can miss so much by simply getting stuck in the dooty, oh, I mean duty of it all. Imagine if our Heavenly Father just did His duty as "Father". If He just provided, protected, disciplined, and cleaned up our messes. Though we would recognize Him as "Father", would we recognize Him as "Abba" (or Daddy).

Jesus knew the Father in such a way that there was true communion with Him. It was a relation that when Jesus was in agony at Gethsemane He cried out "Abba Father" or Daddy Father (Mark 14:36). It was a relation that was personal as well as powerful. We have that very same relationship today. Listen to these verses...
   Galatians 4:6 (NIV)

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

 Romans 8:15 (NIV)

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

I remember when my mom and dad where still married. I was about six years old. My dad would raise his voice and it was like the thunder of God shaking the walls in our home. When dad yelled, we listened, but dad yelled a lot. There was no real "daddy-son" relationship, it was more like a "disciplinary-pain in the backside" relationship. In the throngs of life I can understand how and why my father related this way, but I want more for my children... I want them to have a Daddy.

All in all we want our children to see us as "Daddy & Mommy" even in the most agonizing times of life. Lisa and I know deep within our beings that we are incapable of being that "Daddy & Mommy" with out knowing The Father as "Daddy". It is because Daddy has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts and has adopted us as His child that we might even be capable of truly loving our children. So Yes, "Jesus Take the Wheel!" because when we are in control life is fast and scary!