Between the fact that they couldn’t wear jeans, had to carry an unnecessary cooler and had to eat flowers (See the previous parts of the “Europe, Here We Come” mini-series…), this “glorious” European vacation wasn’t turning out quite like my family had anticipated. However, the other things might not have seemed quite as ridiculously terrible in the eyes of my teenage boys if we hadn’t started off on the wrong foot…

Of course, I had no idea that my “Day 1” plans would be considered “starting off on the wrong foot”… We would land in Paris mid-morning, and the fast train to Brussels didn’t leave until the next morning. Why shouldn’t we take the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the city? And so I set out to plan an all-encompassing walking route that would bring us to all of the famous places to see in Paris.

I admit that I was shocked to see that my planned route would cover 17 kilometers. We would be okay, though. I knew it! We were fit, we would be longing for exercise after the long plane ride, and, well, why not walk 17 kilometers? And with all the beautiful things we would see, why my family would thank me in the end!

Unfortunately I was the only one who actually slept on the overnight flight, but sleep is overrated anyway, right? Our youngest had just returned from a mission trip in Northern Canada the night before we left, and he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep for the past 10 days; but that was his problem, not mine, and after stowing our luggage at our hotel, we set out.

We succeeded: Notre Dame de Paris, L’arc de Triomphe, the Seine River, the Louvre Museum, we even went to the Académie Française where the French language is kept pure. Then we ended this perfect day by climbing the Eiffel Tower.

I was so excited to be in Paris that I didn’t notice my boys, especially my younger son, dragging behind all day. At one point my wife mentioned that maybe he was too tired for this trek, but I didn’t really hear it. I just figured he was enjoying himself and he would keep up. It wasn’t until we were half-way up the Eiffel Tower that even I had to stop and notice: My younger son was suffering from the stomach flu! And before we reached the bottom of the tower again, my older son had jumped on the band wagon!

My younger son was over his flu by the follow morning, but his older brother wasn’t so lucky. He ended up sick for the entire week we spent visiting my mom in Ostend, Belgium. Okay, perhaps 17 km was a bit much. Especially for two boys with the stomach flu!

In retrospect, I could have made their lives a lot easier simply by noticing that they weren’t feeling well, by listening to them instead of writing off their complaints, by taking their points of view into consideration and not trying to pretend that my excitement for being in Paris would rub off on them.

Bad dad?

Perhaps, but probably more accurately, a “human” dad.

Isn’t it a human thing to hurry through life with so much focus on our own agendas that we don’t even realize that others around us are suffering? How many of us pass by the beggar on the street without even noticing him there? How often don’t we try to push other people out of their comfort zones and get frustrated when we don’t succeed, only to realize much later that they weren’t in a place where they could be pushed?

Do we see the suffering? Do we care?

Jesus did. He saw those who were hurting, He heard their cries for help (See Luke 18:35-43), He even felt someone touch the hem of His robe in a crowd of people (See Matt. 9:20-22). Perhaps we would do best to follow the advice of the apostle Paul: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4 NIV)!

Oh, and the next time I plan a 17 km trek through Paris, I will make sure my family isn’t sick with the flu!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries



(To access the entire “Europe Here We Come” devotional series, please click here!)