Mountain Out of a Molehill
This past
Saturday I was watching the kids while Jill was gone for a work thing all
day. I was also sick with the worst
symptom being a pesky case of Laryngitis.
Needless to say, not having a strong voice makes keeping up with our two
little angels slightly more challenging.
You ever tried to say something with authority when your voice is weak? You sound so convincing. Going places is no good because it’s hard to
keep up with the kids and speak to other people. Staying around the house gets draggy because
reading isn’t much fun and neither is playing games in which you have to speak
much.
However, one
game that keeps Jack and Tatum entertained for long stretches and uses minimal
voice is Hide and Seek. We
play in the upstairs of our house which consists of 3 bed rooms, a couple of baths,
a playroom and a few closets. Combined
with my size, that makes for limited places to hide. But, it’s fun to pop out of a closet and
“scare them”, act surprised when Tatum jumps up from the same spot every time
she hides, and pretend that Jack won’t be able to see me standing behind a
curtain. It made for a great way to pass
some time that morning. After we played,
we ate lunch and Tatum took her nap.
After the
nap was over, I was busy finishing something in Jack’s room when I hear some
knocking and a very distressed sounding two year old coming from another room. I go to see what the emergency is. Evidently, Tatum was using our recently
implemented skills of hiding behind closed doors from that morning to hole
herself away in our room. The only problem
is that she doesn’t quite have the height and strength yet to reopen a door
that requires a nob to be turned. So, after realizing I wasn’t coming to
“seek”, she started calling for daddy to come save the day. As I opened the
door, relief comes over her. She gives
me a quick hug, a “tanks Dadee”, and shoots down the hall. I assume she’s headed to “play” with Jack
(aka, see how fast she can destroy the current Lego project). I go back to finish what I was working
on. Crisis averted.
However, no
more than 2 minutes later I hear “Dadee, Dadee." Knocking is coming from down the hall and
Jack comes to inform me that Tatum has indeed trapped herself again. Notice how helpful he is… He doesn’t help her
out, he is just the informant. Had we
still been officially playing Hide and Seek, it would have been a champion’s
move. She was stuck in the bathroom this
time. I go and open the door for her
again. She gives me her little smirk and
another “tanks Dadee!” Once again, I get
to be the hero. I make the suggestion
she not close anymore doors she can’t open.
She agrees with an “otay Dadee” and goes and plays for a few minutes
while I finish my project.
You know,
these little moments are awesome as a dad.
I get to laugh at how silly my two year old is at the same time as
having my heart melt realizing that I am still her hero because of a simple
little thing like releasing her from a self-made bathroom prison. It also gives me a chance to have a tiny
little glimpse of what we must look like to God. Particularly the second time I had to
“rescue” her, I was thinking just how funny it is that Tatum put herself right
back in the same situation that I’d just saved her from less than 5 minutes
before. Shouldn’t she know better? I
also thought it was funny just how desperate she sounded at trying to open the
door. It was a huge obstacle for
her. But, it was so easy for me to help
her out of the situation she was confined by.
Even if she’d accidently locked door, I could have had her out in a
matter of seconds with the little screwdriver key.
While I
chuckled to myself, I did stop and wonder how many times God looks at us and
just shakes his head at some of the obstacles that we perceive to be trapped by. To God the solution is as simple as opening
a door. His promises are huge for
us! Even in things that seem big to us,
Jesus gives promises of provision such as in Matthew 6:25-34 when He calls us
to seek God and he will provide the other concerns in life. We see in 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 that even in
the hardships that may come with faith, there are assurances of hope from
God. Throughout the Old Testament we see
examples of God leading his people against overwhelming odds. I love the scene in Joshua 3 where the people
of God find themselves in what seems an impassable moment. They found themselves trying to
figure out how to cross the Jordan River. (It was at flood stage. A river is hard to cross without a bridge or
a boat right? And, at flood stage, even
a small river becomes dangerous.) But,
God simply held back the water and His people crossed on a dry river bed. Obstacle gone. On the other side, the Israelites stopped and
said a “Tanks Dadee” (very loose interpretation) in a special occasion of
worship to remember God’s provision to overcome this challenge. It’s a powerful
scene to remind us of God’s love and desire to be THE Hero for his
children.
We all have
obstacles in life. Some of them are
rather small and some are bigger in our eyes.
But, if we remember that any obstacle in front of us appears simple in
the eyes of God, we can have the ability to approach those challenges with
confidence, assurance, and use them as faith building experiences!
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