A Father's Prayer

As I reflect on my day, this poem comes to mind:

Dear Father in Heaven,

Work today was hard and long,

And now my energy is gone.

But Father, I also know,

There's a greater work for me at home.

So now I humbly pray,

For extra strength to wrestle and play.

As I was riding the bus home I prayed for strength to wrestle with my kids. Because my wife and I have been so sick, our kids have had few opportunities to get their wiggles out. Earlier today my wife noticed that our son looked sad and asked him about it.

"Why do you think I'm sad?" he responded.

"You look sad."

"Well, I'm bored. Can I go play [next door]?"

Luckily, our neighbor didn't have too many kids at day care today, and she eagerly agreed to have our son over to play with her kids. But I saw the sadness return when I went to pick him up just before dinner. He'd only been there less than an hour. I think he and the other kids felt better when I dressed up in a funny costume and chased them around for a while. But, they are stir crazy and anxious for Mommy and Daddy to get out of the rut they're in. Hopefully, we will be back in business by Saturday, so that we can go out and have some fun together. My wife and I are broken-hearted that they have to deal with this without good friends available close by, or at least good weather or a fenced-in yard. Their stuck with us in our little town home.