Getting to Know You

Today is Isaac's fourth birthday.  He is practically a grown man!  Pretty soon he'll be off to college, getting married, forgetting to call his mommy.  I'm not ready for this!  Judging by this picture, he's not ready either!  


I should have known right from the start that Isaac and I were going to have our struggles.  He was determined to arrive two months too early, insisted on coming out bum first, and managed to literally break my back in the process!
Lately, he and I have been butting heads.  We are very different from each other and that tends to cause a rift between us.  For example:
Isaac prefers to have a very detailed plan for every moment of the day.  The only scheduled event that I adhere to is a routine nap time...just because I'm sleepy.  He's content to play trains for 16 hours straight.  I struggle to commit to such a prolonged play date.  He likes to talk all day long and expects me to listen intently.  I enjoy peace and quiet and expect him to appreciate it too.  He thinks every word he utters is hysterically funny.  I think everything I say is ...okay so we have a few similarities.  

I guess that our real issue is the fact that I have a hard time getting in touch with my inner four year old boy, and Isaac can't seem to act like a thirty year old woman.  This is a real problem! 

I love him so much.  It astounds me that God would bless me with such an extravagant gift.  Yet, there are days when he frustrates me terribly.  Just this past Friday he had me so upset that I just wanted to lay down on the sidewalk and cry. (PMS had a firm grip on my emotions last week.)  Sometimes I just can't seem to connect with him like I should.  
I have been wondering what I can do to better my relationship with Isaac.  What should I be doing to create a better bond with him?
When I have questions like this I ask the Lord.  Parenting advice from Dr. Spock is fine, but when I need real help I go to God.  After all, he is the Father of all mankind!  We are his children, he has a deep and everlasting love for us, but surely he too has been frustrated by our disobedience, selfish behavior, and poor attitudes.  

Now, I've often wondered why Jesus came to Earth as an infant.  Was that really God's best plan?  It seems a bit weird.  But what better way for God to truly identify with us?  It's brilliant!  God literally lived in our skin, spoke our language, walked in our world.  He got down on our level and experienced life from our perspective.  For our own sake he deeply wanted us to know him, so he got to know us. 

All this time trying to make Isaac understand me would have been a lot easier if I better understood him.  Jesus spent thirty years getting to know us, I'm pressed to spend thirty minutes getting better acquainted with my own son.   If I want a deeper relationship with Isaac, to be a godly example for him, I'm going to have to start following God's example myself.  
If that means I have to spend twenty minutes playing "sword fight" followed by a brief burping contest, then that's what I got to do.  If I need to play in the mud every now and then, or jump in the leaves...well, I'll just have to do it.  If I must bounce on the bed or pretend I'm a dinosaur, I'll try my best!  Good grief, why do I even bother acting like a grown adult?!  If you need me, I'll be playing with Isaac.  We're four years old today!