I liked kids, but I've had some very bad babysitting experiences, and was wary of little ones. After you have been chased through a house dodging tomatoes hurled at your retreating back by a kindergartner you develop a certain aversion to anyone that small or volatile. My current job, though strictly administrative in definition, requires me to be in contact with children daily. Actually, I see them when they are at their worst. If one of the little ones is vomiting, coughing, or running a fever, they are sent to the office for me to care for. I make up a cot, check temperatures, administer ice packs and water, and call parents.
Kids really are God's most incredible creation. They all grow up to be big people with stress, odd hang-ups, and personality quirks, but when they are little they are just honest. They're earnest, and see things with such clarity that I'm often humbled by my own small mindedness and sad political correctness. And when they are not feeling well you really see their character in technicolor.
What has really astounded me is how a crying, fretting, sick child immediately calms when you tell them their parent is coming to pick them up. It seems so natural, and we've all seen it before, but there is something incredible about it. They actually calm themselves, taking deep breaths and even drifting off to sleep until their mom or dad arrives. One of my little friends, a five-year-old, even gave me a full description of her dad so I would know him when he came. She was so excited she kept saying "Traffic must be bad because its taking him a while to get here!"
I want to be like that with God.
This week has been tough. The Fiscal Cliff income taxes stripped my paycheck without so much as a "thank you, ma'am." One of my favorite people, a man who has done immeasurable good for the war against slavery, was hit with some hefty persecution this week, and publicly humiliated by the media and the White House. I've had a lot of extra work this week that has completely gobbled up my evenings, so exercising and time with the family has been a luxury. Things at work have been crazy, things with family have been somewhat sad as old relatives end up in the hospital. So, this week I started to feel a little down.
Now, don't let me be a gray cloud. There were lots of moments that should have been tough, but God helped me laugh at them. As I was dressing a three-year-old to play outside, he suddenly sneezed green yucky stuff in my face; it's gross, but I couldn't stop laughing. I accidentally set my dinner on fire; there were actual flames. I somehow managed to order 800 boxes of staples for the school, and my boss and I laughed for a good fifteen minutes about that. Then I chased the school rabbit around the science lab for fifteen minutes because he got loose. There have been beautiful moments with friends who are home from college, people I adore and miss. My brothers are just awesome, and I'm surrounded with God's providence. There is much goodness intermingled with the rough patches, but I still feel myself fretting and fussing like a sick child.
My Daddy is coming.
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."—1 John 3:2
He's coming. Can I say it enough?
"For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds." --Matthew 16:27
Like a child who spends time at school, I am spending time on this earth, but it is not home. It is only temporary, and so are the troubles of the day. My soul may feel heavy and sick sometimes, but He's coming, and there is no traffic to slow Him down. Get excited, and be filled with the peace this knowledge brings.
LOVE
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