The Castle Park

When my children were small, I looked for opportunities to do fun things together.
It was important that those fun things didn’t cost a lot of money.
Discretionary income was not used on frivolities, since there was a budget to consider.
However, fun things could be done that often didn’t cost anything.

Going to the library was a weekly excursion they enjoyed.
Sometimes, getting ice cream after going to the library was the thing to do.
Usually, the place that brought the most joy was right down the street from the library.
My children affectionately called that place, the castle park.

The castle park was a playground on the grounds of an elementary school.
They couldn’t go there during the school year, since only the students of that school could use it.
However, summertime was when the castle park was open to all children.
It was open to all children with parental supervision.

The castle park was made of pressure treated wood.
There were numerous places to climb and wobbly wooden bridges to walk across.
There was a car made of wood and a large tire on which to sit and swing.
There were monkey bars where the children go could hand over hand to the other side.

My eyes had to be in a thousand places at once, it seemed.
I was usually with the youngest, but needed to know where the others were as well.
I could hear their voices, but didn’t always see them, since the castle park was quite big.
There were tubes through which the children could talk to each other across the park.

The joy on their faces made the time spent there quite worth it.
The castle park was appropriately named.
The park had towers with turrets where a princess was held waiting to be rescued.
This castle park had such scope for the imagination.

My children grew and rules at the castle park were tightened.
The park that everyone enjoyed, now controlled the days and times it could be used.
Many years after my children played there, we drove by and saw that it had been taken down.
A new playground was built out of heavy plastic, looking like other play areas found in any town.

It was an end of an era for sure.
I was sad that other children would not have the wonderful experience that mine had there.
I asked someone why the park was taken down and rebuilt in such a nondescript way.
The children were getting splinters from the wood, was one of the answers I received.

I’m sure there was other reasons the park was torn down and rebuilt.
I am sure that the wear and tear took its toll.
However, it seems like we sanitize everything and try to clear the way for our children.
There is a tendency to make things as problem free as possible.

I dislike splinters.
I removed many splinters as my children grew up.
I bandaged a lot of knees because of their outdoor play.
Bikes, skateboards, rollerblading, and a good game of football, had their own dangers.

But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Even the best parent cannot pave an entirely clear path for their children.
Nor should they.
We cannot choose to put a child in a bubble so they will be injury free.

Parenting is not for the faint heart-ed.
Parenting is the hardest, most rewarding job you will ever do.
Splinters will happen; bandages will be needed.
Even with injuries, prayerfully minor ones, wonderful memories are still made.

You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7)

I understand the desire to want to keep our children from harm.
That desire does not go away just because they are grown.
We need to take those fears and concerns to the Lord.
He sees. He hears. He understands.

He is God the Father, after all.

Splinters will happen…and more.
But God…
He is the One who made our children and knows them better than we do.
We must trust Him.