Boomerang

In 1982, one of the coolest toys ever made hit store shelves. I'm talking of course about the Nerf Boomerang.

The one we had was green, but it was oh soooo magnificent. I wish I still had it because they no longer make them and the ones you can find online are pricey. Anyway, we played with ours for years and I have many fond memories of climbing on the roof to fetch this thing when one of us threw it too hard or a gust of wind sent it sailing. Our front yard was perfect for the game we called Boomerang Football. The last 15 feet of our yard sloped slightly toward the street so we would stand at the flat edge of the yard and throw the boomerang toward the street and then the game was on. It was a free for all at this point - anyone could catch the boomerang and the object was to get back across the flat edge of the lawn without being tagged. The Nerf Boomerang was perfect because the majority of the time it came back and would float down nicely like a helicopter coming in for a landing. It sounds really simple but this was one of the most epic games known to man in the 1980s.

One of my favorite stories in the bible is the Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son found in the book of Luke. As a parent, I've often wondered why the father willingly gave his son his share of the inheritance while he was still alive and in seemingly good health. Why would the father respond to his son's selfish and arrogant request by granting it? I know the simple answer is that the father in this story represents our Father in heaven who is much more loving and much wiser than I'll ever be. But I think what let him let his son go was the boomerang effect. The father knew that the son had tasted and seen life at home. The father also knew that the life that awaited his son outside of his home could not compare to the life he had been given. The father knew his son would come home once he came to the same realization. By handing a young man a decent chunk of change, the father was throwing a boomerang. Unlike our games in the front yard though, he knew it would come back to him.

The son's return was not graceful. If he were my son, it would not be easy for me to catch him. He was coming in hot. He was out of control and broken. That's exactly how God finds us. We chase after a "better" life and He lets us. It's not that the Father encourages or condones our choice to flee, it's that He loves us so much He wants us to choose Him. He wants us to choose home. When we come to the realization that no is no place like home with our Father, we too come flying back like a boomerang. Thank God that He is there to catch us.