DOWN HOME:
Embarrassment: Just so many ways to mess up
___"Don't embarrass her," Joanna called to me as I stepped out of our front door.
___Great advice. Much easier said than done.
___The love of my life offered her admonition (which could make me paranoid if I thought about it long enough) just as I was heading to the middle school to escort Molly home from a social. We live about two blocks away. That's too close to drive, especially
when a gazillion cars cram the parking lot. But it's also a lot farther than I want our 13-year-old daughter walking alone after dark.
___"Don't embarrass her," Molly's mother warned.
___The problem with keeping that commandment is perception.
___Dress, behavior, hairstyle and patterns of breathing that seem normal to a father can prove to be especially embarrassing to a young person of the middle school persuasion.
___Take the matter of clothing, please. If he's not careful, a dad can look extremely goofy, particularly to a teen-ager who's concerned about how that dad appears to the significant set of peers with whom she/he hangs. On one hand, if the dad's clothes are too old-fashioned, he's out-of-style and dorky (my word, of course). On the other hand, if he tries to appear too cool, he invades the domain of the young, potentially subjecting his offspring to terminal ridicule.
___I wore shorts, a T-shirt and sandals--all appropriate to my age and my age alone. No problem so far.
___But then there's the matter of what a dad is to do in the presence of his child's friends. If he seems too friendly, his kid gives him that deer-in-the-headlights look that communicates the timeless refrain: "Just don't say anything. Because if you say anything stupid, I'll hear about it every day at lunch until I go to college." However, if he refuses to talk to his kid's friends, he seems mean. And he shouldn't even think about doing his Daffy Duck impersonation, just to break the ice.
___Since I can't do anything about my hairstyle (still have the summer buzz) and breathe rather reflexively, I didn't worry about those.
___So, I played it safe and visited with a mom who goes to our church. We waited on the sidewalk outside the school, and we didn't bother the kids as they streamed from the building.
___I called to Molly, just so she could find me in the crowd. She took one look at me and said three important words, "Let's go home." We turned and walked into the darkness. I think she got me out of there before I could do something stupid.
___Sometimes, even adult Christians aren't much different from teenagers. We act as if we might be embarrassed by our heavenly Father. Maybe we should worry about embarrassing him.
___
The Baptist Standard
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