When my folks and I went to see this flick I was 5. I thought Big Bird was actually going to be there live. I was pretty dang disappointed. I really do remember it vividly.

Now we’re trying to get Elijah to love the movie as much as I did.
It’s working. We know it’s working because he pitches a fit when Holly turns it off. Elijah communicates love for something by crying and screaming when it’s taken away. We’re working on that.

Through my son, I’m learning that the ancient axiom couldn’t be more true:
Every virtue carries with it the seed of its own destruction.

Put another way, an unguarded strength is a double weakness.

With Elijah, here’s the breakdown:

STRENGTH: He’s determined.
WEAKNESS: He’s demanding.

STRENGTH: He’s cuddly.
WEAKNESS: He’s clingy.

STRENGTH: He’s fearless.
WEAKNESS: He’s reckless.

All parents could fill a notebook with the general lessons they’ve learned about life and God through observing and raising their kids, I’m sure.

But this is a very specific thing God is teaching me through my 20 month old boy right now:
The very characteristics that have the potential to make him a great man of God
have the potential to ruin his life.

The flipside of the attributes that make us extremely effective can also make us very vulnerable if not submitted to the authority of Jesus and the control of the Holy Spirit.

The same passion and focus that makes my son obsessed about Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch as a 20 month old will make him an incredible instrument in the hands of God… if that energy is directed toward Jesus.

And that’s what we’re praying for… .