Lessons Learned From a Scooter

Train up a child in the way he should go:

and when he is old, he will not depart

from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Here we are just finished with another Christmas holiday season. Not only have children enjoyed receiving gifts but some of us have pleasant memories of past Christmas gifts that weren't thrown to one side after a Christmas afternoon's play. I have thought recently of those things I most enjoyed receiving...my baby dolls and always the large red, mesh Christmas stocking that had such a variety of goodies and small toys in them. Some things stand out though in this recalling process.

One thing I do remember getting for Christmas when I was about six or seven years old, was a scooter. It was a bright red METAL one with RUBBER rimmed wheels. My red scooter was my pride and joy. For a brief time, my Daddy ran along side as I learned to keep one foot on the scooter with the other foot pumping up and down on the sidewalk. It was a challenge with few spills along the way but in it all, there were lessons learned on that scooter. Thus, I share the some of them that will seem rather elementary:

* In order to move on the scooter, I had to do the work to make it move. I could stand on it until the cows came home but it wouldn't move without my own physical effort....such is still true. It takes good old fashioned work to get things accomplished. Most often, no one will do for you what you can do for yourself.
* I learned boundaries on my scooter. Riding on a sidewalk, one learns where the edges of the concrete are. Boundaries are important in all areas of life. They guide and even protect us. Move out of boundaries and you can be hurt or in trouble.
* My scooter took me to one end of the block and then back to my home. I learned my way home on my scooter. The scooter was fun but home was better.
* Where I didn't know how to balance myself very well at a young age, my scooter contributed to my learning just that. Oh that even today, I will constantly seek a balance in my life. It may be a different kind of balance now (or maybe not) but balance is so necessary in our day and in our spiritual walk.
* I came to really know the benefit of wind in ones face, of smelling the freshness of an early morning, of even experiencing the seasons of the year on my scooter. Thus, I still seek the scent of those dewy early mornings that I have never quite been able to experience again.

A dear friend told me years ago when our oldest child was a toddler that toys should be viewed as tools. Where a dad might have carpenter tools in the garage and a mom have a sewing machine, childrens tools can be just as beneficial. Toys can train and teach a child in preparation for life. What's wrong with a little girl receiving a baby doll (not a Barbie) or doll house. What's wrong with a boy getting a carpenter set, building blocks, things that are creative. Instead, today, children receive things that will keep them entertained by the hour that requires very little thinking or skill.

Some of this came to a head for me a little over a year ago when in September of 2010 I was visiting my sister Kay in Southern Illinois. As was my usual routine, I would take most of a day to drive all over town reliving memories of times and places long gone by. One of my favorite places has always been parking by the only house I knew growing up until the age of ten. I loved parking on Oak Street just looking at all of the houses I remembered and who all had lived in them. Those houses fairly worn with weather and time still gave me some comfort of heart. On that particular Monday, there were two children playing who might have been someone's grandchildren. They caught my eye because on that same sidewalk, in days long past, I had ridden a scooter and had also ridden my red firetruck that was like a pedal car. Some older kids parents had given it to me to play with as their boy had outgrown it. One white ladder was still attached but don't know what I did with the other one. However, the scene I was witnessing was quite different on that September day. As a result, I jotted down some thoughts and wrote the following:

 

SCOOTERS AND CARS

A boy was riding his scooter today

There on my old sidewalk

His little sis was driving a little car...

Oh, if that concrete could talk.

For both it took little effort

Not hardly the bending of knee

Both car and scooter were electric

Required no human energy.

Half the fun of a scooter

Was pumping with foot on the ground.

My little car had pedals

Moved by feet pushing up and then down.

Is this where we made a bad turn

With child's scooter and car?

Lazy bones now have developed,

No effort required anymore.

Kids now reside on sofas

Or better, in recliner chair.

Choosing the stuffiness of the indoors

Shunning the crisp outdoor air.

So we have raised a generation

Of children and all their demands

Walking around with attitudes

And with electronics in their hands.

How wonderful it would be for a moment

If we could go back just so far

With children running with scooters

And pedaling their own little cars.

9/28/10

You know, I'm not really against progress. It wouldn't be good to never allow children to keep up with what is necessary to know to survive in this age of ours. I'm afraid though that we're turning out some zombie-brained children who have to be constantly entertained with all of the modern hand held devices and things that won't work without batteries.

If we are grandparents, we have opportunities to give our grandchildren things that will help them think, encourage reading and use of their brains. Encourage the arts...anything that will help our children be creative and well rounded. The day is coming when our children are going to have to think and figure things out minus something that is battery run. We have a wonderful opportunity to feed into the brains of our children and grandchildren good, healthy things that will encourage thinking and perhaps even more physical activity.

At the time, I didn't realize that all the effort I put into riding my scooter for such a long time, led to the next step of riding a bicycle. Riding my bicycle for what seemed to be forever, taught me safety skills that helped me as I learned to drive a car....staying in the correct lane, observing traffic activity around me, hand signals, sense of direction, and other things as well. That scooter that was such fun was, in reality, a tool and I didn't know it. As I think about it now, I'm mighty grateful for that old scooter.

Just a thought....
There is no battery hookup with God. Batteries don't work with Him. We may have Scripture and devotions on Kindles and computers but the relationship with our Lord has no shortcuts. We don't dial God up...we don't push some buttons and He comes running. He waits for us to speak and to respond to His still small voice that cannot be regulated by a volume control button. He will give us the wisdom we need in our influence in the lives of others....even with those precious little ones we have so much influence on.

Father...I thank you for my children and grandchildren. May I be wise in my counsel, love and giving. Above all, may I be their greatest prayer warrior and encourager. Thank you for the privilege of having them in my life. Amen.