On daughters and Snowmen

"That snowman looks BAD daddy...it is way too small."  My 7 year-old's critique of our frozen creation we spent a good hour on Martin Luther King Day trying to construct.  I know she had images of Frosty with a perfect silk top hat, perfectly symmetrical branches, and as true to life as in the animated cartoon.  But our "Frosty," as you can see, does not quite measure up to expectations.  "It's not the right type of snow," I'm trying to console a now disappointed young lady.

A little back story:  All our kids were supposed to go out and play together.  The older two decided it was too cold and got engaged in other things...so the "duty" of going outside fell to me.  Honestly, the LAST thing I wanted to be doing at 3pm on Monday afternoon.

So, now we are knee deep, beginning to feel the chill, and I have thoroughly disappointed this little girl, who somehow wants me to create Frosty in our front yard.  "Let's put a hat and scarf on it, and look for some branches for arms, to see if we can make it look a little better"....I'm hoping this will distract the current state of disappointment.  She's good with that idea, and we head off hand-in-hand to find "arms" in the yard.  We find the "perfect" ones, and the disappointment on her face begins to turn to hope.  "I'm going to ask mom for the carrots," she says with a new found excitement.

We get the "eyes" and "buttons", and all the other accessories in place.  I look and my precious little girl's near tears have been replaced with smiles and joy.  "Hey Dad!  It still looks kinda bad, but we did our best.  Let's take a picture!"  WHAM!!  Spiritual awareness while building a snowman!!  I wonder if God says that about what we endeavor to do sometimes....it looks kinda bad....I know you did your best....Let's take a picture.

I later thanked my wife for "nudging" me to go outside(she is so wise).  It was time well spent...it is hard to disappoint those little ones who look to us as heroes...but their is learning that takes place in disappointment...and what I learned really mattered was the relationship and the time we spent together, not necessarily the quality of what we produced....i know their is spiritual value in that somewhere!!

So, next time it doesn't necessarily turn out as you, or someone who looks up to you, quite expected...remind yourself..."it looks kinda bad...we did our best...let's go ahead and take a picture........................."