The Holy Spirit Disguised as Vincent

Since this past week has been so frustrating and difficult for Vincent, I wanted to take him somewhere completely different to give him a chance to really run off some steam.  

There is a massive playground a few towns over that he hasn't been to since he was very, very small.  I decided that would be the perfect spot to forget the stress of his new environment and just have fun.

Vincent knew he was going "to the park" today, but he figured it was the one we regularly go to right around the corner.  When we didn't make a right-hand turn off our street, he knew something was up.  He started to whine, "No, Mommy.  I want to go to the park.  Turn right, Mommy.  Turn right!"

I said, "Vincent, no whining.  Mommy IS taking you to the park.  We're going to a special park for you today.  You're going to have SO much fun!"

He, however, was having none of that.  He started to cry.  I guess the poor kid was expecting his routine playground, and when his expectation for "normal" was once again smashed, he got upset.  

I looked at him through the rear-view mirror and said, "Vincent, did Mommy tell you she was going to take you to the park today?"

He said, "Yes.  I want the park."

"I'm going to take you to the park, Vincent.  We're going to the park now.  It's a BIG park with LOTS of fun things.  You're going to like it, so stop crying, okay?"

His crying slowed to silent grumpiness.  Clearly he did not trust Mommy to bring him to this big, awesome park that supposedly was better than his trusty old one.

I was confused as to where this distrust in me came from.  I'm his Mom.  When I tell him I'm gonna take him fun places, I take him fun places.  Was the trauma of school really so much for him that he now thinks I've only got challenging things in store for him?

I drove on, but since this playground is a few towns over, it took longer than he's used to. He began to whine again that he wanted to go to the park.  

I admit I was starting to get annoyed.

Then I felt this little knock on the head and an inner voice chuckling, "How do you think I feel when you do the same thing to Me?"

Oh boy.  

I really DO whine the exact same way when God tries to lead me down roads I want no parts of.  I don't trust that He's leading me to goodness.  I want to stick to my comfortable life of sin.  What could Heaven possibly have that I can't find on my own down here on earth?

Vince's whining painted that picture better than any homily ever could.  I was the crying kid who wasn't trusting her Father to take her to joy.  How OFTEN I am that crying child.  

And why? What has He ever done to cause me to doubt His goodness?  Nothing.  Some experiences have been tougher than others, sure.  But all of them have helped me to grow when I've allowed them to.  Heck, even when I've tried NOT to.  

Point is, how often are we whining little children in the backseat of God's caravan?  

We need to trust our Father to drive us to Heaven.  It might take longer than expected.  We might go down roads we're unfamiliar with... that might be a bit bumpy.  But in the end, He's the very best driver there is, so we'd do well to trust Him.

By the time I'd finished that meditation, I was pulling my car into the parking lot of the playground.  Vincent was in awe of how massive the structures were.  It was pretty funny to see him go from whining to flipping out with excitement.

I imagine that's how we're going to be when we finally get to Heaven.  In the end, we'll realize just how worth it that caravan ride really was, and we'll likely want to kick ourselves for all that pointless whining.

Here's a slideshow of Vince enjoying the playground.  :)

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