Raising a Frog and a Prince
My son, Daniel, recently had a school project where he had to build an ecosystem. I head with him to PetSmart thinking we would get a goldfish or a beta fish, place it in a bowl, add some gravel and a plant and voila, an ecosystem. My son had other plans in mind.
An hour later, we come home with a terrarium, a tree frog, the makings of a forest, and canned crickets. My son names his new pet, sets up his ecosystem and we are well on our way to lasting pet bliss. That is, until the frog refuses to eat the dead crickets.
We take the frog to school and Daniel frets over the pet for another day. I look online and discover that tree frogs like to eat their crickets alive. So, today, Valentine's Day, I travel to two bait shops and then finally back to the pet store to purchase LIVE crickets for the tree frog.
I arrive at my son's school and take the tiny creatures to his classroom. He runs up to me with the biggest smile on his face and hurries back to feed his frog. His teacher walks with me out to the hallway and then proceeds to tell me how Daniel revealed the secret to "winning" a debate to his class. Apparently, his class is learning debate skills. So, Daniel told his class that the best way to win any debate was to use Scripture because God's word was the absolute truth. He then asked his teacher if she had a Bible with her. His teacher tells me that he was so precious in that moment while he was speaking to his classmates and that she knew that God was going to use him. I couldn't agree with her more.
I may not have had any affection for the little tree frog I paid $10 for at the pet shop earlier in the day. It may have cost me an entire morning searching for a proper diet to feed the poor creature. But that little frog is helping me raise my young prince. God is using it to teach him responsibility, compassion, and discipline. In that respect, I am grateful to our new addition to our family.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
An hour later, we come home with a terrarium, a tree frog, the makings of a forest, and canned crickets. My son names his new pet, sets up his ecosystem and we are well on our way to lasting pet bliss. That is, until the frog refuses to eat the dead crickets.
We take the frog to school and Daniel frets over the pet for another day. I look online and discover that tree frogs like to eat their crickets alive. So, today, Valentine's Day, I travel to two bait shops and then finally back to the pet store to purchase LIVE crickets for the tree frog.
I arrive at my son's school and take the tiny creatures to his classroom. He runs up to me with the biggest smile on his face and hurries back to feed his frog. His teacher walks with me out to the hallway and then proceeds to tell me how Daniel revealed the secret to "winning" a debate to his class. Apparently, his class is learning debate skills. So, Daniel told his class that the best way to win any debate was to use Scripture because God's word was the absolute truth. He then asked his teacher if she had a Bible with her. His teacher tells me that he was so precious in that moment while he was speaking to his classmates and that she knew that God was going to use him. I couldn't agree with her more.
I may not have had any affection for the little tree frog I paid $10 for at the pet shop earlier in the day. It may have cost me an entire morning searching for a proper diet to feed the poor creature. But that little frog is helping me raise my young prince. God is using it to teach him responsibility, compassion, and discipline. In that respect, I am grateful to our new addition to our family.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
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