If you’re new here, you may not be familiar with three things thursday – but it’s been a year and a half since the last installment, so maybe no one remembers it much anyways. No worries! These posts are just an excuse for me to write about something in groups of 3.
So without further ado – here are three things my toddler is teaching me about God
- He (God) will answer my prayers
It dawned on me the other day why God responds to prayers grounded in faith, not eloquence. This is because Torre is in a particularly charming stage of exploding vocabulary and will. He is able to verbalize his wants and insist that they be fulfilled. “Mama, over there!”
“Daddy, open the door!”
“No blanket!”
“No pants!”
“Applesauce, yeah?”
In Luke 11, after teaching his disciples to pray, Jesus says, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
I don’t give Torre what he asks for (when it’s possible and wise to do so) because he is eloquent or “deserving” or because he builds a good case, and as much as I love Torre and want to give him everything that will help him thrive and mature and enjoy life, God is infinitely more willing and capable of doing the same for me.
- He is always with me
I know this because I am not always with Torre, but I wish I could be. I wish I could hover invisibly over him at daycare and see the story behind the paint on his shirt or the play-doh in the treads of his shoes. I carried him for 9 months in my belly, pushed him out with groaning and pain and joy, watched him sleep and grow and absorb every detail of this world with his gorgeous eyes, and yet again I know just a sliver about him compared to what God knows of him and of me. Such intimacy cannot be broken by distance; no amount of space or time can dull the clarity of that connection. Well does Paul say in Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When Torre is afraid, my first words of comfort are always “I am with you,” and as I tell him these words, the truth of God’s presence washes over me as well.
- My joy brings him joy
I don’t know much more to say about this. Again, the whole thing between me and God is just a huge extension and expansion of my heart-exploding love for my son.
*Sitting here trying to finish this post, Torre is playing in the same room and I have a bonus 4th thing! Just as my joy brings God joy, my obedience brings him joy as well, for my own heart is so happy when I say “Torre, don’t dump out all the money in my wallet okay?” and he says “okay Mama” and actually complies. What a kid. What a life.