swings

i was on a walk
on one of my favorite walking trails
near my house,
the los alamitos creek trail-
i was close to the end of one of the sections,
when i discovered
a secret park!
it had all of the
things that my little girl would love:
stuff to climb on,
a slide, and most importantly,
swings for little kids!
my little girl LOVES the swings.
she could swing for hours if i let her.







so today, janie and i checked this place out.
it was great-
we had our snack out there,
she climbed, and slid down the slide-
and when it came time for the swings
i noticed that there were big swings
right next too the little swings!


so i pushed her on her swings
until she was really high,
and then i hopped onto the big swings
and swung next to her!
it was a crack up for both of us.


i kept having to stop swinging
every time her little swing
stopped swinging high.
so i thought about teaching her
the art of riding the swings.


i asked her
“who is pushing daddy? daddy can do it by himself!”
“look! when i go back i kick my feet back!”
“when i go forward i kick my feet forward!”
“can you do that?”
she kicked her feet wildly.
she wasn’t getting the concept.
i started calling out foot movements as we swung:
“feet back! feet front! feet back! feet front!”
it worked for a little bit-
mostly it just made my girl laugh at me.


i started thinking-
what if i didn’t know how to swing?
what if i as a grown man,
had to ask some jogger to stop and give me a push?
that would be weird!
but no-
I can swing!
I can swing so well- that i can push others!
i can teach them how to swing-


but janie- she is just learning to swing.
she needs help.
she can’t get into the seat-
she can’t go back and forth,
she can’t get out.
that’s ok for a little girl,
but it wouldn’t be ok for a grown-up like me.


i was thinking about my role
as a leader at church-
i help people to grow in christ
to be discipled, to mature as a believer.
its like i’ve learned how to swing-
and now i can push others
and teach others-
and someday- they can push others
and teach others.
but still we hear at church-
“i feel like i’m not being fed.”
and its awkward- because these are people
who are all grown up, so to speak-
they should have learned to swing by now-
they should be pushing others-
they should be teaching others-
they should be calling out-
“feet front! feet back!”
but they’re stuck and they say to others-
“push me! i need a boost!”
these folks who are “not being fed”
should have learned long ago
how to feed themselves-
when they come in,
it shouldn’t be about getting fed,
it should be about feeding others-
and teaching them to feed themselves.
but instead, they are like a grown-up,
sitting in the baby-swing,
asking for a push.


awkward!


“we have much to say about this,
but it is hard to explain
because you are slow to learn.
in fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you
the elementary truths of God's word all over again.
You need milk, not solid food!
anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant,
is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
But solid food is for the mature,
who by constant use have trained themselves
to distinguish good from evil.”
-hebrews 5


“we tell others about Christ,
warning everyone and teaching everyone
with all the wisdom God has given us.
We want to present them to God, perfect
in their relationship to Christ.”
-colossians 1 (nlt)