The Parable of the Clone Mask

Patience is a virtue rarely lauded these days. And it's even rarer to find opportunities to teach it to our kids. We live in such an "instant gratification" society--digital cameras, skype, internet available on our phones. We don't even like waiting for pizza delivery any more. I used to be as impatient as they come, but as I've gotten older, I've mellowed a tiny bit. Well, mellow may be the incorrect term--adjusted to reality and its limits.

I confess that I rarely take my kids shopping. It just invites trouble and begging and crying and tantrums and anger and timeout and punishment . . .
One day, the little boys both had money, so we headed to Wal-mart, that bastion of consumerism. Hyrum bought a nerf sword (that deserves its own post someday), and Micah fell in love with a Star Wars clone helmet. And when I say fell in love, I mean love at first sight. It was $40, and he had $20. I told him that if he really wanted it, he could save up his money and buy it himself.

When you're five years old, it takes a long time to save up $20. But his birthday was in June, and grandparents being the generous, loving people they are, sent him birthday money. And Tucker offered to chip in the remaining five bucks, so now he had enough to buy the helmet. I thought this would be a fantastic memory-making outing for Micah and Tucker, so Tucker drove to Wal-mart, hoping against hope that it would still be there, four months later.

It was.

Not only that, it was marked down to $29.97, so Micah even got CHANGE back. He brought it home, chest puffed with pride and purchase. He put it on, pushed the buttons, and assumed the clone trooper stance. He was awesome.

Three days later, the mask lay discarded and forgotten at the bottom of the little boys' closet. If he never saw it again, I don't think he'd even miss it.

It made me think about God and our requests to Him in prayer. How often does He answer them in His way, knowing what is best for us isn't want we want? And then, when we get the desired request, we discard it? It's all in the perspective.

Next time you're faced with a desire, think about the clone mask and ask yourself, "Do I really need it? Or does God truly know what's best?" It's made me think a lot. And I've found a few discarded, unappreciated masks of my own.

Lesson learned. Hopefully not too late.

Linking up to Anti-Procrastination Tuesday.