The day had been the first of our cross-country road trip. We had told the older kids we would wake them up the next morning to see the sunrise, but then we experienced our fair share of setbacks and the day had been much longer than anticipated.
We had arrived late and set up the RV in the dark and in the rain. Thankfully, everyone slept well and Tim woke early to start on morning preparations as we were scheduled to drive into Pensacola to visit the children’s science center before continuing on our drive to New Orleans.
Tim woke me to see if I wanted to take the kids down to see the sunrise and I said I did. As I got dressed, he woke the kids and told them to get ready. I checked the local sunrise time and realized we only had about 15 minutes to get to the beach. Thankfully, Tim had walked one of the trails earlier that morning, so he quickly gave me directions as the kids bundled up to embrace the early morning chill.
The directions sounded simple enough, so as Tim stayed behind with the two sleeping toddlers to get breakfast ready, the four older kids and I started down the road.
We found the trail easily, but soon I was questioning Tim’s directions as the beach seemed nowhere to be found. First, we took the trail to the right, then the trail to the left…jogging at this point, trying desperately to arrive on the beach before the sun peaked up over the horizon.
Finally, I admitted defeat while in my mind blaming Tim for giving me bad directions.
I was blown away by the response I got.
And to my surprise, every other child readily agreed.
So, we ventured off the trail toward the rising sun. It was indeed beautiful.
As the kids settled into playing in the sand I was reminded of how I hope to teach them about overcoming frustrations and finding the good in every circumstance, but on this morning, it was all about how much they taught me!
Has your child ever reminded you of an important truth or taught you a lesson by the way they handled a situation? Share in the comments below.
Our “frustrations” are often just moments for us to sometimes look at things a little differently and find the blessing in the end. Once we look back, we realize that things weren’t so bad after all. I think we always want things to go as planned without a hitch, but it’s those hitches that make or plans and life’s journeys a bit more enjoyable.