Monday, July 5, 2010

The Parable of the Clone Mask

Patience is a virtue rarely lauded these days. And it's even rarer to find opportunities to teach it to our kids. We live in such an "instant gratification" society--digital cameras, skype, internet available on our phones. We don't even like waiting for pizza delivery any more. I used to be as impatient as they come, but as I've gotten older, I've mellowed a tiny bit. Well, mellow may be the incorrect term--adjusted to reality and its limits.

I confess that I rarely take my kids shopping. It just invites trouble and begging and crying and tantrums and anger and timeout and punishment . . .
One day, the little boys both had money, so we headed to Wal-mart, that bastion of consumerism. Hyrum bought a nerf sword (that deserves its own post someday), and Micah fell in love with a Star Wars clone helmet. And when I say fell in love, I mean love at first sight. It was $40, and he had $20. I told him that if he really wanted it, he could save up his money and buy it himself.

When you're five years old, it takes a long time to save up $20. But his birthday was in June, and grandparents being the generous, loving people they are, sent him birthday money. And Tucker offered to chip in the remaining five bucks, so now he had enough to buy the helmet. I thought this would be a fantastic memory-making outing for Micah and Tucker, so Tucker drove to Wal-mart, hoping against hope that it would still be there, four months later.

It was.

Not only that, it was marked down to $29.97, so Micah even got CHANGE back. He brought it home, chest puffed with pride and purchase. He put it on, pushed the buttons, and assumed the clone trooper stance. He was awesome.

Three days later, the mask lay discarded and forgotten at the bottom of the little boys' closet. If he never saw it again, I don't think he'd even miss it.

It made me think about God and our requests to Him in prayer. How often does He answer them in His way, knowing what is best for us isn't want we want? And then, when we get the desired request, we discard it? It's all in the perspective.

Next time you're faced with a desire, think about the clone mask and ask yourself, "Do I really need it? Or does God truly know what's best?" It's made me think a lot. And I've found a few discarded, unappreciated masks of my own.

Lesson learned. Hopefully not too late.

Linking up to Anti-Procrastination Tuesday.




blog

22 comments:

  1. oh...this is GOOD...I really needed to read this today Jen...thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good one, Jen. This made me think and I'll think some more. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AWESOME!! No really, what a fantastic and perfect post! Thank you for writing this, and for sharing your wisdom and greatness with lowly people like me! Makes me love and appreciate you even more.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good analogy, Jen! And so true in my case. But I'm learning...

    And now I will try to publish this comment. We'll see if it actually posts, because something is wrong with blogger tonight and none of the comments are posting.

    Hope they fix it soon.

    =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love that parable. It really makes me think, which, honestly, I don't take enough time for. I do believe that you are right. His time is the right time. Even in the middle of the unknowns and the not understoods, I hope I can always keep that perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You must have written this for me. Thanks I needed that!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very good post. Something to remember and think on for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love those moments when our kids mirror our own relationship with God. That lesson is so close to home; we want it but really don't need it and won't appreciate it. Thanks! Lisa~

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great story! We had these same masks...also discarded...later sold in a yard sale for like 2 bucks!
    Great lesson!

    ReplyDelete
  10. what a great message this morning after a long holiday weekend. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. At first this made me thing, "ah, kids.." but then I thought deeper. How much "junk" am I donating to Goodwill that I once bought with pride, high on the drug of acquisition? This reminds me to think carefully before I buy, wait. Contemplate. Do I really need this? Probably not...

    ReplyDelete
  12. I wrote quite an excellent comment (haha) last night, and it didn't post! Suffice it to say this is a great lesson for all ages-both on the spiritual and the temporal sides of life.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like how you tied that together. He doesn't always answer the way we want, but he ALWAYS answers!

    ReplyDelete
  14. what a great post today Jen!!! (or whenever you posted..i'm playing catch up)

    ReplyDelete
  15. hope you don't mind my chiming in... good post!

    And it reminded me to think of all the times God said to the Israelites and Moses to remember what God has done here, to tell your children about it, to make visual reminders in your home to mark the time when God did mighty wonders or forgave the sin and cleansed the nation.

    Looking back on this blog will no doubt spur on a story...even pulling out the mask from time to time to tell the story to Micah will remind him of many wonderful things... how hard work and patience pays off, the love of family (sending $), the friendship & empathy of Tucker, and the danger of tossing the gift aside unappreciated. Thanks for jogging my mind of those things.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Crap. I wish I read this before I went shopping today. :) Great post Jenny!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good lesson!
    Made me look around for "discarded must-haves"!
    Enjoy the day

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love this post. That's a great reminder, especially for me. I've got lots of masks of my own.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love it, very seminary-esque. I always learn the best from object lessons and real life experiences. Thanks for sharing yours so I could learn.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you for this thought making post. There is always a lesson to learn in every aspect of your day. I am slowly learning to find them too.

    ReplyDelete