Riding Out the Waves

Many of us have stories about the Northridge earthquake in 1994. Living in California, earthquakes are something you’ve got to learn to roll with. If you live in California, you know what I’m talking about.

My daughter reminded me about part of our Northridge earthquake story that I had forgotten about. Monica was five years old, and Tim was four years old in 1994. It was by far the scariest disaster we as a family have ever gone through. Again, you can probably relate if you lived in California on January 17, 1994.

The aftershocks were one of the scariest elements to the devastating quake. They happened often and what seemed like weeks. With every one came the reminder of the fright at 4:30 a.m. waking us from a dead sleep, hearing the water bursting from our water heater, cut legs from fallen objects, broken glass throughout the house, and barricades of fallen items from closets, cabinets, and drawers. Again, if you lived through it, you probably remember it well.

As my daughter reminisced about that frightening day she recalled me raising my hands and playfully bellowing WEEEEEE! every time we had an aftershock. I did this because I didn’t want my children to be scared. I turned it into a fun game. And obviously, my daughter remembered. My kids weren’t scared as the aftershocks hit. Instead it was transformed into fun.

As a parent we set the tone for our children. Each day we can choose to breathe truth and life into them or choose a spirit of fear.

Parenting can become so serious to the point that we forget to have fun with our kids.

Do something fun.

We all go through differing waves of life. Some waves can be scary. But if you know God is carrying you through each crashing wave, you can rest in the security of your heavenly Father.

Sometimes you just gotta throw your hands up in the air and say WEEEEEE!

Until next time, have a little fun today.