praise and golf

Yesterday I was playing golf with my son in our front yard. Make no mistake the kid has game. If it were up to him the whole world would be a golf course. He wakes up in the morning, stumbles out of bed, scratches his head … walks sleepily into our room and says in his little morning voice, “Hi Daddy.” I open my eyes to see the most beautiful little boy standing in front of me with a smile on his face. He then says, “I wanna go play golf.” He keeps me outside for hours at a time just hitting the golf balls in our yard.

Now some sneer at golf as though it is not cool. I am just happy that my son likes something that will require a lot of time for he and I. Golf is really just a long walk spoiled, and he and I will take these walks together. During these times I know there will be many great conversations. We will talk about our lives, and how to live them. We will talk about our fears, and how we can overcome them. He will tell me about a girl, and inevitably of heart break. I look forward to these times when we will build our relationship, and over the years become friends.

I think yesterday made me think of this. We were chipping the wiffle golf balls at a tree in our yard. I hit mine high in the air, and Myles yelled with uncontrolled excitement, “Whoa Daddy! Good shot! You are the best at golf!” I smiled proudly (and looked around to make sure that no one could refute my son’s claim). With all of the accolades I have been privy to, I think that none matched the one I received on the grass in front of my house last night after hitting that chip shot. My son thinks I am the best at golf (I decided not to ask him if he thought I was better than Tiger, he loves Tiger).

As I strode across the grass toward the ball, something in me smiled even bigger. I thought about the joy that my son had given me by telling me what he thought about me. That he thought I was the best. Then I wondered how God feels when his kids tell him how great he is.

I had no ego in what my son said. It was simply a special thing for me to hear my son be excited about me. There is nothing in this world like his hugs, kisses and laughter (my daughter is included in that). So I thought about God the Father. What kind of joy does he get when brothers and sisters say to one another, “… that is awesome, praise God.”

Last night, I thanked him, for my life. My wife, my job, my kids, my car … and golf. The game that will give my son many more hours to teach me about our Father in Heaven. When I finally got to the other side of the yard to hit the balls back I could almost see God walking across his yard with a big smile on his face thinking, “There is nothing like the praise of my kids.”