On Raising A Modern Day David
“Mommy, I’m really starting to read.”
I nodded keeping my finger on the page to track the words for him that his eyes struggle to track.
“Mommy, I really am. But all my friends can read all kinds of books.”
“Mommy, will I looooove to read? Because I think I will love it so much.”
My heart aches a different kind of ache now. When I first realized learning was difficult for this child, I just wanted it to be easy. I’ve shared that before. My heart physically ached for him to simply read like other kids. But God has changed me. He’s given me a different vision now.
“Andrew, you will loooooove to read. You will love it so much. And you know what? You will love it even more than some of your friends who learned early how to read because you’ve had to struggle and work hard. Sometimes when we have to work super hard at something, we appreciate it more. It just means more to us.”
It’s a gift, Lord. Thank you for this gift.
He has a gift. He thinks outside the box. I like that. I’m an in the box kind of thinker most days. Andrew shows me things I’ve never seen.
One of Andrew’s teachers told me about a Focus on the Family broadcast that made her think of Andrew. I listened to it then went out and got the audiobook. It was Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath.
It was interesting to hear a different perspective of David, one that didn’t take away the magnitude of who God used or what He did. He explained how we look at David as this little shepherd boy with a toy sling shot that took down a giant. But he showed a different way to look at this.
A young boy who thought differently. A young boy who knew that Goliath was expecting him to fight the way Goliath fought. But David knew his strengths. He knew he was accurate with a slingshot. He couldn’t take on a giant using the warfare the giant would use. He’d have to come from another angle. He had to think outside the box.
David was fast and precise. He was calculated and on-point. He was bold and courageous because He knew who held the battle. He knew who was on his side. But he was smart. A different kind of smart. A smart that didn’t think like everyone around him.
Remember the reaction he received when he stepped forward to take on the giant? Remember how Saul tried to suit him in his armor…the typical route. It didn’t take David long to realize that wasn’t the best option. He went at Goliath in a way Goliath never imagined.
After I listened to this telling in Gladwell’s book, I had a whole new appreciation for young David. I’ve always prayed for my boys to have hearts like David’s and spirits like Caleb’s. Hearing this story told from a completely different perspective made me more resolved than ever to pray for this kind of heart in my boys. And to relish in the fact that Andrew is a different thinker.
We sat at the breakfast table. Andrew sipped from his shake, lifted his eyes to meet mine. “Mommy, next time I go hunting, I’m going to do it a different way than Paw-Paw does it.”
Curiousity piqued. How else does one hunt for deer than how it’s been done for ages?
“How will you do it?”
“Paw-Paw sits real still and waits for the deer to come close to him and then he shoots them. I will come up from behind the deer and sack ’em.”
“You will sack the deer? Like you would sack a quarterback?”
100% confident, he nodded his head and returned to his shake.
Who knows, maybe it will work? I don’t think so, but I’m an in-the-box kind of thinker. Andrew isn’t limited like that. It might take a while to learn to read, to learn math facts, to understand difficult concepts. But he’s got one thing down. He knows how to think up new ideas and he has so much belief in a big God and himself in God’s plan that I don’t doubt he could actually be the first little boy in history to sack a deer.
“But you know, Mommy, deers can hear really good. So I have to be extra sneaky when I sack ’em.”
“Yes, you do, sweetie. I can’t wait to mount the first deer you sack.”
Praise God for His creativity seen in each child He’s created.
Lord, may I never stop seeing your awesome work in my children. May I be awestruck all the time. May I never doubt that you can do the impossible through your children. We praise you, Lord. We praise you.
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