I know I write about my experiences in parenting, well, far too often. But, it’s where I am. And, I learn just as much from those experiences as my children learn from me. I feel certain of this. I also realize that I tend to write more about John Henry’s seemingly spiritual insights and Anna’s crimes of fashion and occasional use of profanity. It’s not necessarily that one loves God more than the other. Hmmm. Well, maybe just a little. For now. Or perhaps, one just responds to His love more than the other. Look, I don’t have the answers here. I’m just figuring this thing out as I go, or in this case, as I type.
I write all of the above nonsense to say that my children teach something almost daily. And, if it’s not a new life lesson, it’s a reminder of how God has called us to live our life. Yesterday was one of those days.
Upon letting John Henry out of the car, I decided to pretend there was a bug around his feet. You know. To scare him. ‘Cause I’m a good mother who gets a kick out of frightening her children. Go ahead and send that Mother of the Year Award to Oklahoma, please.
So, the story went….
“John Henry! There is a bug crawling around your feet!” I said frantically in a voice worthy of a daytime Emmy.
He skirted a bit. Then, I said, “I scared you, didn’t I?”
“I don’t get scared,” he said. “God is always with me.”
I probably should’ve felt ashamed at this point. After all, I was trying to scare my son and he was basically rebuking me with the name of Jesus. {I blame my own father, because he tried those same antics with me.} But, I just felt proud. Then, I felt comforted. Because, my six-year old reminded me that:
No matter how grim things look….
No matter how desperate we become….
No matter how lonely we feel….
No matter how anxious we are….
No matter how scared we are…
God is with us. Always. When we walk through the waters, He will be there. When we walk through the flame, He will be there. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. He goes with us all the way to the end. He goes with us to those terrifying doctor’s appointments. He goes with us when we drop our child off at her college dorm for the first time. He goes with when we start a new job. He goes with us when we walk down the aisle and say I do. In everything we do, in every place we go, He is with us.
So, wherever you are walking today, know that He is with you. And, you have nothing to fear.
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.'” Matthew 1:23
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