Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Do Over Part 1

I work with little kids. I get to play games and act silly and they really keep me in a place of contentment with my life because they see the world in such a simplistic way. One of my favorite things to do with the kids that I work with, mostly the elementary children, is play games. Whether that's a video game, UNO, or just something that I make up off the fly.
I'm going to share a secret with you that I do not share with most people. Don't judge me because of what it is that I am going to say but rather love me because I am a true and real person. Are you ready? When I play with kids...I don't let them win. I know the rule is when you play with kids you let them win. I know that when I was little people let me win in games all the time...believe me, I completely understand. But the one thing that I do let kids have is a 'do-over'. Now for those of you who do not know, a 'do-over' is exactly what it sounds like, and for little kids it is their lifeline to get things right again. Most kids like to do things over because they have figured out a new way to play the game and they believe with all their heart if they have a chance to do it over again, they will succeed. 
Isn't this a lot like our lives? We are often replaying events in our heads after they happen and we say to ourselves if we had a chance to do it over again we would definitely succeed. That is why, for the next four weeks, I will be writing to myself as if I had a do-over. There are events in my life that I know, with all of my heart I could go back and change each instance for the better. I view things differently now because hindsight is twenty twenty. 

hey alleigh, you're dad does know what he's talking about. 

Alleigh, take it from me...it is totally and completely not worth it. You should listen to your dad. The boy isn't that cute and it's not going to turn out the way that you picture it in your mind anyway. You live in Lincoln Nebraska and when it snows around here it really comes down. It's the biggest snow storm of the year and you just got your license in the summer. You're not used to driving on black ice....DON'T DO IT. But of course, you're going to do it anyway. As a 16 year old girl, going out to dinner with the star of the rival basketball team is way more important than listening to your father. Right?! Wrong! You'll pick him, he won't even look at you and the conversation will be terrible. You'll eat at a little diner and when it comes time to pay you won't pick up the check but he will tell you that you have to pay. You'll try to fight it and resist all temptations to pick up that check, but you're too nice. You'll pick it up and you'll pay. Meanwhile the snow has been coming down for awhile now and you are out way longer than it would have taken you to pick up your backpack from school, like you told your parents you were doing. Side note: Don't worry you'll get over that lying thing. It'll take you a few years but you'll stop. The roads are pretty slippery and you have the chance to listen to that tiny voice in your head that says slow down, but you won't because for some reason a piece of you still wants to impress the boy that's riding in that passengers seat. And because of that, you will crash your parents car. You will slide underneath the bed of that pick-up truck and you will completely ruin the hood of your moms brand new Honda Civic. All because you didn't want to listen to your dad. Do you understand why I'm saying this to you now? You don't even talk to that boy anymore and that communication stopped the day after this whole event. Guess what Alleigh? Your parents are smarter than you think they are. They have been through things that you are going through, their advice may seem invasive but they love you. 

So if you take one thing from this whole experience, it's that your parents really do know what their talking about. They have crashed cars themselves, they have dated the wrong people before they found each other, and God put them in your life to love for some time. That's a big responsibility so the last thing they need is someone getting in the way of that job. I promise you, the sooner you realize this truth the easier your life will be. 

"Honor your father and mother -- which is the first commandment with a promise." Ephesians 6:2

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