Christian Living

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I was talking to friends the other day about one of their children's recent birthday parties. You may be aware that kids' parties can be a real stress. You want to do something special but somehow it often seems much harder than you imagined. Not surprisingly, in affluent Australia many families these days essentially contract out the party experience.

Fortunately some of my friends who could afford the outsourcing option see the value of DIY (Do It Yourself) parenting. Their most recent birthday party was very impressive. Their primary school aged boy's party (no easy job) was a lot more successful that Steve Martin's stressful attempt in the movie 'Parenthood'. The plan was simple. Dad took son and friends on a prearranged bush walk. Mum and troops (including grandparents from interstate) met the party in a park at the other end of the walk and supplied the essential party food that young boys adore. I don't know what they ate but I am imagining such Aussie classics as fairy bread (bread and butter with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on the top), chocolate crackles (rice bubbles and chocolate), lots of lollies and a cake from the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book.

One more feature of the experience interested me. The Dad not only pre-walked the course to know where to take the lads - he prepared the course. Along the way he left messages and challenges that the boys had to find and address along the way. This achieved a couple of things. Firstly, it slowed them down - an essential ingredient when wanting a party to actually last two hours. Secondly, it made the walk much more challenging and interesting. The Dad knew that young boys are not really into native plant appreciation and the peacefulness of nature - no, they needed challenge, competition, adventure and fun.

The picture of parents who care enough to make their kid's party fun is a great one. We come to expect mums who know how to cook and delight. We are more thrilled with a dad who is involved and interested.

What's more, the whole scene points to a deeper truth. God, our Heavenly Father, is deeply involved in our lives, which often seem like a very extreme bush walk. The obstacles, struggles and difficulties are not outside His plan. We complain when the going gets tough and then look back and see blessing that could only have developed from hardship. Mystery will always surround our path but trust, hope and fellowship mark our journey. The celebration at the end is not a reward for our struggle but the consequences of outrageous love from our Father God.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."
(1Peter 1:6-7, NIV)

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