I noticed that he walked away sadly to his room and asked what was wrong. Then he told me what happened. I empathized with him and said that I will try to fix it.

I called Microsoft customer support but, it was past their business hours. Fortunately, they have 24 hours online chat assistance, so I got on with them. For verification, they requested pictures of the front and back of the damaged gift card with the reference number they provided written on both sides. They also requested a picture of the purchase receipt with the reference number on it.

Again, fortunately, we were able to trace the giver of the card and, they still had the receipt. They wrote the reference number on it and sent a picture of it to me. Then I uploaded all three pictures onto a website which the support agent provided me via a secured link.

Once they received the pictures, they asked me to verify Ofu’s account information, which I did. Next, they said to confirm his account by providing the verification code which was sent to the email address on his file. At this point, we became trapped because Ofu didn’t remember his password. So, John swung into action, and bam, he retrieved the password. Quickly, he logged into Ofu’s email, found the verification code, and then I confirmed it to the agent.

They did their best to retrieve the code but could not, so instead, they credited Ofu’s account with the amount on the gift card. Then I told Ofu to go and refresh his account and check his balance. As soon as he did and saw the money in his account, he gently dropped his remote control, walked over to me, and gave me the strongest hug I’ve ever known from him. He held tight on to me for a while and soaked it in. When he was satisfied, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, “thank you, daddy!” It was equally therapeutic for me as I hugged him in return and patted his back. Then I said:

“That’s what dads do. That’s what men do. That’s what boys. That’s what guys do…”

Then John chipped in:

“That’s what brothers do.”

Me: “Exactly, that’s what we do. We solve problems.”

Before contacting Microsoft support, I had made up my mind to replace it for him if unsuccessful in retrieving the code, so I stayed calm and reassured him intermittently that it was going to be solved. I believe that parents are endowed with wisdom and the ability to remain calm in the heat of the moment. But if not properly honed and they give in to worrying, then their children cannot enjoy their wisdom and knowledge. This can be mirrored to their children, who will, in turn, be concerned about their “worrying parents.” So, when life takes a downturn, rather than consult with their parents, they may turn to others because they are avoiding “bothering” their parents. That can be an implication of being a worrying parent.

I’m not suggesting in any way that parents have answers to all life issues. When their concerns are beyond our wisdom and knowledge, we should know enough to refer them first to God, “Infinite Intelligence,” and His providence as tools for solving problems.

Fellow parents, as we live and pray for long life, let the goal be to remain productive and relevant, and not just to be alive for the sake of it. One way doing so is to model calmness and resilience during crisis, which will, in turn, enable our ability for creative problem-solving

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Matthew 6:27.