Boombox Blues - April 3,
2001
Our girls have been doing a good job lately of picking
up toys and helping around the house, so we decided it
was time for a little reward. Kayla and Alisha are both
showing an interest in music (big surprise???) so we
thought, what better gift than their very own CD/Cassette
player for the play room. We packed up the family and
headed for the electronics store, but the excitement was
too much for Alisha and she fell asleep in the back seat.
That left Kayla and I to journey in and pick out their
new stereo. What a remarkable father/daughter experience.
Here we were in my favorite store shopping for electronic
equipment!!! We were adventurers in a forest of sleek
black and silver, flashing lights, and the cacophony of a
hundred TVs and radios all tuned to different stations
... aahhhhhh. (Sorry, I got a little excited there for a
minute.) We made our way to the boombox aisle and Kayla
experienced love at first sight. She found this cool
little radio with translucent blue doors where you could
see the CD spinning as it played. There was only one
problem ... it was a piece of junk. It was an off brand
with tiny speakers, buttons in hard to reach places and a
bad sounding crunch when you closed the CD door. I had
Kayla look at several different models as we talked about
quality and sound and buttons she could push, but every
time her eyes would return to the shiny blue boombox.
Then I did something that was very difficult for me, I
told he she could have the blue one. You see, I wanted
her to have a radio that would sound good and last for a
long time. I was willing to spend more because I wanted
her to have the best, but I loved her enough to let her
have what her heart desired.
That made me think about God. How many times does He
let His children have the desires of their hearts even
when it's less than He would like to give. God wants us
to have the absolute best and He is willing to pay the
price, but He loves us enough to sometimes give us what
we ask for. How much better if we would ask Him to bless
us as He wishes and turn Him loose to shower His abundant
love on us in what we really need. I think we would be
amazed if we could see the life God would like us to have
if we would quit asking for less.
To finish up the story, we brought the new boombox
home, plugged it in and guess what ... it didn't work.
There was great disappointment as we packed it up and
headed back to the store. I told Kayla she could exchange
it for another of the same model and see if it worked,
but she decided she would rather have a different one
that was better quality. She even let dad help her pick
it out. Now both kids are in the play room, dancing and
singing and having a great time. I'm happy too because I
was able to give my children what I know is best for
them. Now I need to let God do the same for me.
