God in the Giggles
I am just returning from two weeks of vacation. We took short trips here and there and then spent time catching up on projects around the house. The most life giving element of my time out of the office was being with the boys. Micah is now 3-1/2 and Graham is just 2 years behind him. They are active and loud and full of energy.
A couple of year’s ago our one of our confirmands had a line in her statement of faith that has stuck with me (her’s isn’t the only one, I am in awe of the faith of our teens). She said in her statement that she sees God at work all around her in the little things, one example she shared was finding “God in the giggle of a small child.” Her words spoke to a reality I know well. I knew it before having children but it has become undeniable to me since the birthsof our boys.
God is at work in the lives of our kids- guiding them, nurturing them, loving them- even before we as their parents begin to notice God’s involvement. They also are witnesses to that work of God and can reveal God to us if we let them.
This morning I had one of those “finding God in the giggles” moments. Our morning routine is probably not all that different from other families with small children. Brandon and I are typically exhausted and try to steal every last moment of sleep we can before officially beginning the day. Graham is usually the first one up and since he still sleeps in his crib, our alarm is Graham yelling from the other end of the house “Daaaaadaaaaa.” He will continue with his screams until one of us makes our way to the other side of the house to rescue him. Micah, on the other hand, gets himself out of bed and gets dressed and then heads down to our room to get whoever still remains. This morning was a bit different.
It began with Grahams typical scream, but then on the monitor we heard a whisper. We are parents of the technological era and have video monitors in the boys rooms, so Brandon switched it on and there is Micah putting his arm through the bars of Graham’s crib gently patting his back and leg and saying “Don’t worry Graham, you don’t have to be sad, I am here, I will go get Daddy.”
It was a precious moment that we were blessed to witness. It has stayed with me all day. Just reminding me of the goodness of our children (because honestly it often gets overshadowed by the rest of the chaos of having two boys). It also reminds me about what being in community is all about, what sharing life is all about.
There are times when we just feel stuck in life, it happens to all of us. We just can’t seem to get ourselves back on our feet. It may be a big earth shaking event or something somewhat minor that just causes us to freeze. The beauty of the church, of being a part of a christian community, of committing to love each other, is that we promise each other that it will be okay, that we are here, and we will do what we can to help. When we live into that fully and can become as in tune with the needs of our brothers and sisters as we are with our own, then we can help each other heal enough to work together to impact the lives of our community and beyond.
This kind of change isn’t difficult, but we just need to be reminded every now and again that we are capable. Praise God for sending a 3 year old to remind me.