I Am Wonderfully Made
"I am a GENIUS," she says, looking with great satisfaction upon the blanket tent she has erected, largely on her own, in the middle of the living room.
I ask her what a genius is, knowing that she'd overheard my discussion with her older brother in the car a few days ago on the same topic and curious to know what she took from it, and she explains that it's when you do something that's "willy, willy good."
A few minutes later, she's hard at work coloring a page from preschool, and she offhandedly remarks that her teacher will be So. Proud. to see the work she's done on this coloring page. She goes on to brag about her perfectly traced S's and the beautiful colors she's used on the snake at the top of the page, whom she calls "Tiger Strength."
Her Bible verse in preschool this month has been Psalm 139:14, "I am wonderfully made." As we drove home from BSF this morning, I did the mom-who-was-a-teacher thing and began asking her questions to make sure she understood the meaning of the verse. She needs very little prompting to talk these days and was soon off on a long explanation of Creation, detailing that God and Jesus made us, and "they tooked turns, like one would do the head... and then the tummy... and the chin..." One thing she was very clear about: that memory verse means "I am great!"
As she leaves her coloring page to return to the Genius Tent, I marvel once more at her innocence, at her ability to be so confident and proud - but not selfishly or sinfully. I have to stop myself from worrying for her - that her teacher won't be so proud of her coloring, or that the tent isn't the most incredible feat of genius ever - because I know that she not only is not worrying about those things (even one little bit), but that she also won't be affected by them even if they are true. Her confidence isn't rooted in what others may think, and I have a lot to learn from her.
Because there I stand, folding clean towels and thinking sadly about that day to come when she will spend more time caring about what others think and less time happy in her own opinions. And as I mourn inwardly, the Spirit whispers to me that this is one of those ways in which Jesus desires for us to be like children, to be free from care and happy in who we are. How He must mourn for us when we let others' opinions rob us of our confidence and joy in ourselves as God's own creations! So there I am, in the midst of clean underwear and washcloths, vowing once again that I will not be anxious in anything, but will rejoice that I am truly wonderfully made!
Only moments later, Sarah has come back with a meandering sermon about listening to Jesus, and I'm assuming this is coming from something she's learned this morning at BSF. At one point, she primly explains that we can listen to him when we are awake or even when we are sleeping, because when we are sleeping, our eyes are closed but our ears are still open. But then she firmly cautions that when we are listening to Jesus, we must "keep our mouths closed and be really, really quiet and try not to cough."
Oh, praise God that sometimes He talks to us even over our coughing! And thank you, Lord, for this sweet soul You've made, who teaches me more than I might have ever imagined about Your love for us and Your wonderful will for our lives. May I never stop learning from her.
(She is, after all, a GENIUS.)
I ask her what a genius is, knowing that she'd overheard my discussion with her older brother in the car a few days ago on the same topic and curious to know what she took from it, and she explains that it's when you do something that's "willy, willy good."
A few minutes later, she's hard at work coloring a page from preschool, and she offhandedly remarks that her teacher will be So. Proud. to see the work she's done on this coloring page. She goes on to brag about her perfectly traced S's and the beautiful colors she's used on the snake at the top of the page, whom she calls "Tiger Strength."
Her Bible verse in preschool this month has been Psalm 139:14, "I am wonderfully made." As we drove home from BSF this morning, I did the mom-who-was-a-teacher thing and began asking her questions to make sure she understood the meaning of the verse. She needs very little prompting to talk these days and was soon off on a long explanation of Creation, detailing that God and Jesus made us, and "they tooked turns, like one would do the head... and then the tummy... and the chin..." One thing she was very clear about: that memory verse means "I am great!"
As she leaves her coloring page to return to the Genius Tent, I marvel once more at her innocence, at her ability to be so confident and proud - but not selfishly or sinfully. I have to stop myself from worrying for her - that her teacher won't be so proud of her coloring, or that the tent isn't the most incredible feat of genius ever - because I know that she not only is not worrying about those things (even one little bit), but that she also won't be affected by them even if they are true. Her confidence isn't rooted in what others may think, and I have a lot to learn from her.
Because there I stand, folding clean towels and thinking sadly about that day to come when she will spend more time caring about what others think and less time happy in her own opinions. And as I mourn inwardly, the Spirit whispers to me that this is one of those ways in which Jesus desires for us to be like children, to be free from care and happy in who we are. How He must mourn for us when we let others' opinions rob us of our confidence and joy in ourselves as God's own creations! So there I am, in the midst of clean underwear and washcloths, vowing once again that I will not be anxious in anything, but will rejoice that I am truly wonderfully made!
Only moments later, Sarah has come back with a meandering sermon about listening to Jesus, and I'm assuming this is coming from something she's learned this morning at BSF. At one point, she primly explains that we can listen to him when we are awake or even when we are sleeping, because when we are sleeping, our eyes are closed but our ears are still open. But then she firmly cautions that when we are listening to Jesus, we must "keep our mouths closed and be really, really quiet and try not to cough."
Oh, praise God that sometimes He talks to us even over our coughing! And thank you, Lord, for this sweet soul You've made, who teaches me more than I might have ever imagined about Your love for us and Your wonderful will for our lives. May I never stop learning from her.
(She is, after all, a GENIUS.)
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