Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. Psalms 8:2
If anyone knows me personally then you know the current struggle I face. It is a hard one and while I put my best foot forward I will admit that it is a daily struggle. It seems and it may just be me, but it seems that I can trust God with a matter of all things but I have the hardest time giving over matters of the heart. But in this matter I am forced in a way I have never been before. The irony is even when we struggle God has a way of reminding us that he is always near and does care.
The other day I was wrapping up a bible lesson with my girls. I was trying to stress the importance of having complete faith in God and what it meant to trust in him. I was trying my best to level out the very serious subject of faith in a way they could understand. I wanted them to understand just how powerful a weapon they were given. I wasn’t sure if they understood. My youngest repeated everything I said back to her with a smile. My oldest just looked at me with a blank stare. I’ll be honest, I felt like it wasn’t my brightest moment as a parent. I was sure that I had talked my head off for the last thirty minutes in vain.
So you can imagine my surprise when my oldest decides that our walk to the bus stop would be the perfect time to resume bible study. I listened to her speak trying to see just how much she had retained from the night before. I was surprised (I had to stop looking at her deadpan face as an indicator of her reception). When we finally stopped at the bus stop my phone rang. I answered and began talking to my grandmother. I could see my oldest out of the corner of my eye playing around with sticks and leaves. I became so engrossed in my conversation with my grandmother that I turned my back to her for just a few moments. I even began to pace the cul-de-sac.
In one moment of what I liked to call (at that time) maternal instinct I had turned around just to see my daughter diving backward toward the pavement. I ran over to her and caught her in mid fall. The mother in me asked her what on earth she was doing. How did she know I would see her? I asked if she was willing to take the risk that I wouldn’t. Her response was the best I have ever heard. She said to me, “I knew you would. No matter what I am doing you are always watching me”. Then she told me that she knew that even if she could not see me that I could see her. She said she had faith in me to catch her.
I laughed to myself because I knew it was true. You see as a kid I was a prankster. As good as I was I could never sneak up on my mother. It would drive me insane. No matter how quiet I was or how stealthy I was at creeping up behind her she would catch me. One time I got so close I could touch her. Right when my hand reached to get her she turned around at looked at me. I was frozen in mid-air. I could not figure out how she got me. Later she would tell me she could feel me breathing on her hair.
The point I am trying to make is that even in times when we feel like we cannot see God moving in our lives doesn’t mean he isn’t. We get so caught in our trials and stresses that we forget an important thing. God is always watching. It doesn’t matter how close we are to the pavement or how swift we are seemingly falling. We need to remember that his eye is always on us. We need to remember that the same love and surety that allowed me to run and catch her are the same traits that are active in our father. I thanked God silently in my head for the lesson she taught me about the bible study. Sometimes it takes a child to help you remember the most basic things about God.
I thank God for children. They take what you teach them and give it back to you when you need it most. While she grabbed her backpack and head for the bus steps I waved bye and held back tears. I needed her gift that morning. And while the bus took off down the street I took that quiet trek back home to spend time with him.
