I have never experienced more opportunities to witness God's sense of humor since I've had children. On a fairly regular, read daily--hourly, perhaps, even--basis someone takes something that I've long held sacred and turns it on its ear; allowing God, I believe (actually in this case, I especially hope) to avail me of his oh-You-are so funny-this-MUST-be-God- sense of humor.
So the other night when I was out Easter/First Communion/Aunt's Wedding/Uncle's Wedding children's outfit shopping, it didn't even faze me when my cell phone rang and my husband was on the other end asking if we had Crazy Glue...and did I know where we kept the Crazy Glue...and if not, would I kindly purchase some Crazy Glue.
I arrived home to find that our youngest daughter, 2 year old, N, had been playing with a beautiful statue of the Holy Family we received recently, which resides on our family altar. In her zealous "play" she, God forgive me, broke the head and hand off the innocent baby Jesus.
If you look closely, you'll see the statue to the top center of the picture. You'll also see (if you're looking carefully) a copy of the New Testament in Amharic on top of our family bible.
And here, you'll see a close-up of the same statue next to a nearly empty bottle of Holy Water.
But that is a story for another post.
So, I purchased the Crazy Glue, at the time not knowing the reason why and praying that one tube should suffice. When I arrived home, after the Christ child's assailant was in bed, I took out the Crazy Glue and attempted to fix the damage. While I did so, I thought surely our Lord had not considered two year olds, and a certain blond haired, blue-eyed one in particular, when he invited, "Let the little children come to me..." (Mt 19:14) The operation appeared to be a success and I set the statue back on the table on my way up to bed. I peeked in her crib and saw her sleeping. She was laying, as only a two year old can, sprawled across her mattress, blanket wrapped around one chubby little hand and her Dear, God book in the other. My little girl loves Jesus and considers Him to be her friend in such a way that she doesn't think twice about asking Him to play, even when she plays rough.
On second thought,I think she, and her other two year old peers, might have been just what He had in mind.
3 comments:
I am quite certain they are just what He had in mind; right along with my 5 rambunctious kiddos. The friend and playmate that our kids see in Jesus, is exactly what we adults are missing.
One of my favorite sermons ever had to do with thinking of God as our "Daddy". We really can curl up in his lap on the rocking chair, and talk about anything that comes to mind. What a beautiful image.
My girls (D and R) both had an appetite for chewing the plastic halo off their Baby Jesus (who they called white baby as he was in white robes) in their preschool nativity when they were 2 years old. I am sure that ours are not the first to (a) decapitate or (b) gnaw the halo off of Baby Jesus. And I'm just sure Jesus is delighted that they choose (a) to include him in their rough play and (b) to seek him as their greatest comfort during Advent molar teething.
What a great blessing our children are to us, that we may see through their eyes things in an entirely different light.
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