I Never Knew You Could Do That

As I'm laying here in my bed, watching a movie, checking my fb, absorbing heat on my shoulder which is painfully sore after a long week of manual labor, I'm thinking about choices. Yea...we all make them, every day. But sometimes you wonder if you make the right one.

Some of the choices I've made, I'm 100% sure of. Take for instance, my wife - 100%. Making the move to NM - 100%. Not moving to Midland a couple of years ago - 100%. Following Christ - 100%. Picking a Chevy over a Ford - 100%!

But I make choices everyday that make me question myself...like if I should eat out or save $$, if I should sleep in or get up early, you know, those crazy little decisions you make that don't seem to matter. You see, I'm a perfectionist, so I tend to question EVERYTHING...it drives my wife crazy...because I like to analyze everything.

I've made lots of bad choices in life. Obviously, not gonna mention most of them here, but I've made a few. I bought Ford trucks when I was young...and I learned. I tried to eat a Super Monster Burrito from Freebirds...and I learned...and I learned...and learned until there wasn't much more learning to do. I lied to my mother, and felt guilty, and had to tell her. I took something that wasn't mine once, only to return it with extreme embarrassment. I turned my back on a friend and it's never been the same. Over the course of 36 years, I've made some bad choices...some I have learned hard lessons and moved on, while others still sit around and remind me.

Tonight, my almost 7 year old son and I decided to go and play some basketball. He will turn 7 on Monday and I'm in disbelief. I know that all parents say that about their kid, but really, he's on his way to being a teenager. I found out a few things in that hour that I tried to teach Caed some things about basketball. First of all, I'm way out of shape. I was having a hard time going to 20 and hoping Caed would win fast. I decided that it would be good for us to run a couple of laps too, which made it even worse. By the end of the time, he was crying (because he couldn't breathe) and I was trying to catch my breath well enough to teach him how to hold his hands above his head so he could breath better. While we were playing basketball, he said something rather profound. You see, I'm not a great or even good basketball player, but when you're a dad to a an almost 7 year old, even the small things seem big. I was doing a couple of tricks with the ball and then I shot it all crazy like and it went in. Out of his mouth come the words "Dad, I never knew you could do that". Hopefully I'll hear those words many times in the future, but tonight they kinda dug in a little...and hurt. The reason he never knew I could do it, was because we had never spent time playing basketball together...and I when that hit me, it did hurt. I get so pre-occupied with my schedule and to-do list that I have missed out on seven years of "I didn't know you could do that!"

Good news is this...tonight I made a good choice. I chose to hang out with my son. Early in the day, I had a decision making dilemma. I felt guilty for not attending a school event that one of our students was a part of. I had thought we should go all day, but in the back of my mind, I had also promised Caed that we would play basketball. Do I feel guilty now? Not at all. I hate that I can't be at all places at all times and that I miss lots of things for others...but I've missed a lot of growing up with my son and I pray that God gives me the wisdom to continue to make the right choice!

Maybe tomorrow, I can impress him with my whittling skills...and I'll hear him say "I never knew you could do that!"