One of the Best Storylines of All

As I was watching the Olympics last night, it seemed as if the theme of redemption was being weaved through most of events, especially on the track at Olympic Stadium. Allyson Felix finally won gold after only capturing silver in Athens and Beijing, and Brittany Reese jumped the farthest of any of her competitors in London after a heartbreaking fifth place finish in the long jump in Beijing. The U.S. women's soccer team is looking for redemption in their rematch with Japan in today's gold medal match, after a nail-biter of a loss in the World Cup finals last summer, and the examples go on and on.

I think we all like a good redemption story, don't we? "Rocky," "Braveheart," "Cinderella Man" are all good tales where the main character finds some sort of atonement near the end of the movie. And if your kids rule the DVD player, you can probably relate more to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Toy Story" for a redemptive theme. Regardless, there's something about us as humans where we seem to be rooting for the underdog, the one who has always had the chips stacked against him, and finally has the chance to redeem himself. We like hearing about and watching stories with that kind of happy ending.

Here's the thing about happy endings, though. They always come at the end. And that's the image that sticks with us - Sly Stallone winning at the end, Mel Gibson leading his men to victory, Woody getting back in the good graces of the rest of Andy's toys. The majority of the story focuses on the hardship and conflict that the main character has to endure, but we tend to forget that because it's not pleasant or fun, and we just want to skip to the end to see how it all turns out.

I fall into that same trap as well. I've had some hardships and conflict in my life as a husband and father, and I spend tons of time wishing I could just skip to the end of it, and just get to the redemptive part. I find myself chomping at the bit to get to the time when my daughter is through and done with the terrible twos, or I don't have to deal with such and such hardship anymore, and just get to the redemption at the end.

However, it's the hardship and conflict that ultimately brings my family closer together, not to mention brings me closer in the my relationship with the Lord. God is constantly working His redemptive purposes here on earth, but that means that He's got to work through a lot of shhhhtuff first in order to get there. And if Caylah were the perfect child (dare to dream!), I know we wouldn't be nearly as close as we can be if our family figures out how to navigate through conflict and hardship well together.

So, as uncomfortable as the hardships are, I need to continue to remind myself to press into them and make sure I'm learning everything I can from them. The Lord always has lessons to teach in the midst of those times, and I need to be careful not to look past them so that I can just get to the happy ending. Because as sweet as the redemption is, they aren't nearly as valuable without the hardships that have come before them.


Not to mention all of the great stories Caylah's future boyfriends will get to hear about her temper tantrums...


What are some of your favorite redemptive stories?
What are some things you've learned that help you get through the hardships as a dad?