God and golf... again!

     Well, it's day three in Florence, SC, for a golf tournament with our 15 year old son.  He begins his second round of play in just a little while, and I must say, this whole golf thing has proven to be mighty nerve-wracking.  I thoroughly enjoy walking along on a golf course and watching my boys play golf.  What's not to love: fresh air, beautiful verdant grass, trees and flowers, all kinds of wildlife (we've seen deer, a bear, foxes, hawks, bunnies, and who knows what else!), and time spent ambling along with people you love, enjoying the sunshine and the gift of God's creation.
     That is, however, unless it's a golf tournament.  Then all bets are off.   While following any of our boys in a golf tournament, I'm always pretty certain that I will either drop dead of a heart attack or throw up.  I'm thinking my boys would prefer the heart attack since it would be a tad less humiliating for them.  My husband does not have this problem.  Sure, he wants them to play well and feel good about their game, but he does not stress to the point of needing immediate medical attention. But that's a man for you.  How pathetic that I can't just relax and enjoy it more, but sadly, relaxation and competition--especially involving people I love--are not compatible with this Mama.
     Apparently our boys can sense my nerves.  How can this be when my husband has vehemently instructed me to always stay well ahead of the golfers on the hole?   I've tried this, but my nerves remain just as taunt, and, somehow, though the boys can barely glimpse me way up ahead on the hole, they can sense my tension.  I don't think it helps when I gasp audibly when they miss a putt.  Mind you, I never intend to do this.  It just happens as a result of my love... and lousy perspective as to what really matters.
     Clearly, my sons' character, sportsmanship, and love of the Lord should matter immeasurably more in my heart and mind  than whether they make a putt or drive the ball deep into the woods (though I confess, this causes much weeping and gnashing of teeth--with me, that is, not them).  And those character and pursuit of God issues are infinitely higher and greater in my priorities... until I'm following a child at a golf tournament.  And then, like I said, perspective and wisdom all too often flee and are replaced by worry, fretting, and Murphy's Law.  You recall Murphy's Law don't you?  It's the law that dictates whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.  My theme song when it comes to sports--especially golf and Tarheel basketball.  What ever happened to rejoicing and hoping and trusting in the Lord?!
      I confess this to my utter shame, and starting today, right now, seek, by the power and grace of the Lord Jesus, to do better... to maintain a more sanguine, wise perspective that trusts God and His ways and plans--even on the golf course during a golf tournament!   Isn't it funny how the Lord most often teaches and challenges and grows us in the small things of life?  We can sometimes more easily trust and rely upon Him in the big crises than in the minutia of daily living.  How often have I lost my temper over a messy bedroom or misplaced my joy over a lengthy to do list or sinned by fretting over a child's grade in school.
     Yet in one hundred years, what will any of that matter?!  When we get to heaven, will I still be complaining about all the weeds in my yard or questioning God about why He didn't allow my child to make some sports team?  Will I really be worried about the economy or the size of my thighs or broken appliances at the wrong time or the lack of vegetables in my child's diet?   I don't think so!
     And if it won't matter a hill of beans in thousand years or a hundred years or even a decade of years, why on earth am I allowing it to steal my peace, my joy, my love, and my witness right now?   We--or at least I--need to daily put on our "Hundred year glasses" to correct our myopic vision and regain a  proper, godly perspective.
     "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." (Is.26:3-4)  Amen, Lord!  You promise that YOU will keep us in perfect peace if we will stay our minds upon You, because we trust in You.  We don't trust in our bank accounts or our homes or our families or our success or our education or our bodies... or our children's success in sports or school.  We trust in You, Lord, and so we keep our minds ever fixed upon You and Your goodness and greatness and grace and glory.
     So we take it one day, one hour at a time, and when our minds start to meander down those well-worn paths of worry or fretting, we choose to turn our gaze and our focus back upon our all-sufficent, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving Lord.  And we claim Your promise that when we trust in and fix our minds upon our everlasting Rock, You will give us Your supernatural peace and joy.
     Time for golf!  Lord, You know how weak and prone to wander this fallible sheep is, so keep me fixed upon You, trusting You, and rejoicing in You and Your ways... no matter the score or the missed putts or errant drives!  Put on those hundred year glasses and keep focused upon the the Rock.  To God--our Almighty, everlasting, ever dependable Rock--be all the glory.