patriology:: entry 119

tarzan is no longer king of the jungle- now jane is the king (or should I say queen) of the jungle!


let me explain- the jungle is a local indoor playground for kids. they have two locations in san jose. one is made for little kids, and one is made for older kids. they both have these climbing structures in them – kind of like the ones at burger king, but on steroids. inside these climbing structures, kids can climb, crawl, swing, and jump in ball pits. the entire structure is fenced in by a black net. we try to get to the jungle as soon as it opens so that there won’t be a lot of kids rough housing around my girl.


we usually go climb in the jungle for big kids, because the climbing structure isn’t very big at that one and the big kids usually stay out of it. today we went to the jungle for little kids. the climbing structure there is gigantic.





you could lose a kid for days in there. today, for the first time, jane took on the giant climbing structure- and she loved it. i couldn’t get her out.





so i just followed her around from the outside of the climbing structure, trying to keep her in sight and trying to coach her up levels and through tunnels.


there was a strange moment today- she went through some tunnels and down some ramps and found herself in a big ball pit. she was chilling in there, plotting her next move, when a group of four big boys rushed in like a back of rhinos. they dove into the balls, jumped around and tossed balls around- all completely oblivious of a small girl almost under the balls.


what would i do? what could i do? should i climb into the play structure and rescue janie? should i yell at those boys to watch where they were going? should i just watch and wait? that’s what i did. there i was holding on to the black net watching my girl play around these crazy boys, and cringing and hoping that she would be ok. as soon as she got out we had a big hug.


it got me thinking- I wonder if this is how God feels when we are far from Him? does He watch and cringe and hope that we’ll make good choices? does He consider just jumping in and rescuing us? does He consider obliterating the ones who might hurt us? does He feel so far away, even while watching us so closely? does He long to embrace us as soon as we come to our senses? is He watching and coaching and directing us all along? have we been rushing around obstacles, too busy getting lost and stuck to listen and hear and obey?


jesus used to tell a story about a dad who longed to be near his son- even though his son was surrounded by danger in a distant country- it started off, "there was a man who had two sons. the younger one said to his father, 'father, give me my share of the estate...'


I’m not saying that jane was making bad decisions, its just that I felt that she was in trouble, and i was on the outside of a net- not powerless to help, but again, not as helpful as i could have been. her vulnerability made me feel vulnerable. anyhow, I'm glad that my girl got out ok- and I'm glad that I didn’t scare those boys.


“the father said to his servants, 'quick! bring the best robe and put it on him. put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. bring the fattened calf and kill it. let's have a feast and celebrate. for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found…”