Just another day at good ol' Learning Express was upon me and, as often happens, I was pleasantly surprised by a parent who not only had rules for her children (one toy only and no whining or you get nothin') but whose child also obeyed this rule.
I've always wanted to have all boys when I have kids; maybe it's from always wanting a brother growing up or maybe I just don't want to deal with a miniature version of me between the ages of eight and fifteen (not a pretty sight). Either way, I find that little boys are more likely to approach me than girls for the most part.
Example number two: while the previously mentioned mother was purchasing the loot, her son informed her that he was going to go play.
The conversation went a little something like this:
"Mommy, I'm going to go play."
"Ok, that's fine."
"Don't leave without me."
"I'm not going to leave without you. You can go play."
"But are we leaving soon?"
"I'll come and get you when it's time to leave."
"Promise? Don't leave me."
"I'm not going to leave you!"
The kid goes to play in the corner, out of eyesight but continues verbal connection with his mother, like sonar.
"Is it time to go yet!?" (this is right after he has disappeared from sight)
"No, David, I'll come and get you when it's time to leave."
"Ok, don't leave me!?" (at this point he is yelling to his mom through the store)
"David, I will never leave you."
"Mommy, do you love me!?"
"Of course I love you!"
"Ok, please don't leave me!"
while this is all taking place, I'm behind the register struggling to keep a straight face. "David's" mom sounded completely calm throughout the entire exchange, although I think she was amused by him asking if she loved him. As she finally told him it was, in fact, time to leave, he began shouting through the store to his sibling, telling him/her that it was time to leave as well. I don't know whether this kid has been left somewhere before or whether he just has severe separation anxiety, but the whole thing was pretty funny. Having been left a few places in my childhood, I sympathized with him even though there are worse places you can be left than a toy store.
Most kids are drug out kicking and screaming (literally) but this kid was determined for his mother not to lose him, despite the fact that our store is not very large; as he was keeping up a very loud dialogue with his mother there was little chance she could forget him even had she wanted to.
I originally wrote this post a while back, so that it would be fresh in my mind, but as I re-read it today, I had a mini epiphany.
I believe I have the ability to see God's hand in day to day things, but I'll admit it isn't always my first reaction. I would never be one of those preachers who had a great anecdote to go with every sermon. However, as I re-read this, I was struck by the similarity between this dialogue and that between us and God.
Firstly, it made me think of the way I often think about God's love-- in the scope of human and/or conditional love. There's always the fear that people you love might leave which can often carry over into our relationship with our Heavenly Father. How many times do we think to ourselves, "God, don't leave me"? How many Psalms did King David compose crying out for the feel of God's presence? Yet, God responds with, "No one will be able to stand against you for all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with You; I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5). Unfortunately, we humans have some issues with trusting someone to take the reins of life out of our hands, but if we can find the courage to surrender, God has promised to never abandon us.
The little boy asking his mother if he loved him also reminded me of when Jesus and Peter and some of the other disciples are on the beach after Jesus was resurrected. Jesus asks Peter, the man upon whom the church was founded, "Peter, do you love me?" The creator of the earth, Peter's creator, looked him square in the face and asked, "Do you love me?" Now, Jesus, being the creator of the world, is kind of a big deal, as it were. Yet, creator turned to his creation and asked "do you love me?" While we all know the "right" answer is yes, much of the time (most of the time) our day to day lives fail to reflect this love. Even the disciples, who lived and walked alongside our savior were far from perfect. But He never asked for perfection; he did, however, ask for our love.
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