from the mouth (or signs!) of babes
I'm in the process of putting together a quite lengthy blog about life these past weeks (it was only the 3 busiest weeks of my work year, my sister and one of my best friends had babies, and we prepared/went on a vacation to Canada!). However, in the meantime wanted to blog this particular day's events to forever etch on my memory...
Lately, I have been absolutely amazed at how much Caleb is absorbing! Working full time in children’s ministry, I am a HUGE advocate of teaching very young children spiritual truths. I STRONGLY believe that they are able to understand spiritual truths in a way that we adults just can’t (or don’t!). They take God’s Word as it is. So we’ve made it a point from birth to surround Caleb with songs, stories, and verses that would speak into his life already, and this past week, wisdom sprung forth from my 2 ½ foot 17 month old little boy…
It was “one of those days” where we were “those people” everywhere we went. We were leaving for vacation in just 2 days, and this was our day to run all of our errands. And when I say all of our errands, I mean a day packed full of running here and there. First stop was to get the “furminator treatment” for our bear of a dog at PetSmart. Yes, just imagine a Mom with squirmy toddler strapped to her in the Ergo carrier being pulled through the PetSmart by a 110 stressed out bear of a dog. Yes, that was us. Then imagine that same squirmy toddler pitching a screaming fit while his mother waited a long time to dispute a discrepancy in her receipt at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Yes again, that’s us (and no, I did not “win” the discrepancy). How about a squirmy toddler now lunging here and there trying to escape the shopping cart at Babies R Us. Any mother trying to avoid yet another scene would give their toddler the closest thing to hold to distract them, and so I did….only to turn around 30 seconds later to find Caleb full of lotion he had managed to open and squirt all over himself. Oh, yes, it was “one of those days” where we got used to eyes peering our direction!
On a less than bright mothering moment, I lost my patience leaving Dick’s Sporting Goods (probably the fact that my purchase was $10 more than I had expected didn’t help!) and needless to say, when I strapped Caleb in his seat and slammed my door, he KNEW his Mommy wasn’t happy. Caleb’s screaming fit stopped as his mother had her own loud words! Knowing I was frustrated and not wanting to say anything I would regret too much (I’ve been working hard on this), the words were much like “Caleb, Mommy is really NOT happy. This is not the way we act when we are in stores. You need to say you’re sorry. etc . etc.” Our list of errands was still daunting, and I was doubting we’d ever accomplish all we needed to that day, and if we did, there was no way we’d maintain our sanity. In the midst of all of this, I turned around in the car to see Caleb very frantically opening and closing his precious little hands…
At first, I was puzzled. We have used Baby Signs with Caleb, but I couldn’t figure out what this one was (and normally, he is very clear with his signs!). And then it hit me…
“Open them. Close them. Open them. Close them. Give a little clap. Open them. Close them. Open them. Close them. Fold them in your lap.”
We had started teaching Caleb this little rhyme before praying, and here in this “heated moment,” his little Spirit was prompting him that we need to approach the throne of grace…and my heart skipped a beat for a moment as I was completely taken back!
And so when we pulled into the next parking lot and I placed him in the next shopping cart, we “opened them and closed them” and asked forgiveness. We said (signed) sorry to each other and with hugs and kisses, we were off to the next adventure (and next scene).
Kenny has prayed over Caleb since he was brand new that he would understand grace, and I think God was confirming that even 2 ½ foot little people can grasp this life-changing concept. It also confirmed to me the urgency to continue to pray, bless, sing, and read Scripture to our wisdom-filled little man b/c he “gets it” in a way that we can’t understand!
While not my brightest mothering moment by far, this is one that made a bright lightbulb go off in my head, and once again, I went to bed seeking grace to get this parenting thing “right” and thankful for the wisdom from the mouth (or signs!) of babes!
Lately, I have been absolutely amazed at how much Caleb is absorbing! Working full time in children’s ministry, I am a HUGE advocate of teaching very young children spiritual truths. I STRONGLY believe that they are able to understand spiritual truths in a way that we adults just can’t (or don’t!). They take God’s Word as it is. So we’ve made it a point from birth to surround Caleb with songs, stories, and verses that would speak into his life already, and this past week, wisdom sprung forth from my 2 ½ foot 17 month old little boy…
It was “one of those days” where we were “those people” everywhere we went. We were leaving for vacation in just 2 days, and this was our day to run all of our errands. And when I say all of our errands, I mean a day packed full of running here and there. First stop was to get the “furminator treatment” for our bear of a dog at PetSmart. Yes, just imagine a Mom with squirmy toddler strapped to her in the Ergo carrier being pulled through the PetSmart by a 110 stressed out bear of a dog. Yes, that was us. Then imagine that same squirmy toddler pitching a screaming fit while his mother waited a long time to dispute a discrepancy in her receipt at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Yes again, that’s us (and no, I did not “win” the discrepancy). How about a squirmy toddler now lunging here and there trying to escape the shopping cart at Babies R Us. Any mother trying to avoid yet another scene would give their toddler the closest thing to hold to distract them, and so I did….only to turn around 30 seconds later to find Caleb full of lotion he had managed to open and squirt all over himself. Oh, yes, it was “one of those days” where we got used to eyes peering our direction!
On a less than bright mothering moment, I lost my patience leaving Dick’s Sporting Goods (probably the fact that my purchase was $10 more than I had expected didn’t help!) and needless to say, when I strapped Caleb in his seat and slammed my door, he KNEW his Mommy wasn’t happy. Caleb’s screaming fit stopped as his mother had her own loud words! Knowing I was frustrated and not wanting to say anything I would regret too much (I’ve been working hard on this), the words were much like “Caleb, Mommy is really NOT happy. This is not the way we act when we are in stores. You need to say you’re sorry. etc . etc.” Our list of errands was still daunting, and I was doubting we’d ever accomplish all we needed to that day, and if we did, there was no way we’d maintain our sanity. In the midst of all of this, I turned around in the car to see Caleb very frantically opening and closing his precious little hands…
At first, I was puzzled. We have used Baby Signs with Caleb, but I couldn’t figure out what this one was (and normally, he is very clear with his signs!). And then it hit me…
“Open them. Close them. Open them. Close them. Give a little clap. Open them. Close them. Open them. Close them. Fold them in your lap.”
We had started teaching Caleb this little rhyme before praying, and here in this “heated moment,” his little Spirit was prompting him that we need to approach the throne of grace…and my heart skipped a beat for a moment as I was completely taken back!
And so when we pulled into the next parking lot and I placed him in the next shopping cart, we “opened them and closed them” and asked forgiveness. We said (signed) sorry to each other and with hugs and kisses, we were off to the next adventure (and next scene).
Kenny has prayed over Caleb since he was brand new that he would understand grace, and I think God was confirming that even 2 ½ foot little people can grasp this life-changing concept. It also confirmed to me the urgency to continue to pray, bless, sing, and read Scripture to our wisdom-filled little man b/c he “gets it” in a way that we can’t understand!
While not my brightest mothering moment by far, this is one that made a bright lightbulb go off in my head, and once again, I went to bed seeking grace to get this parenting thing “right” and thankful for the wisdom from the mouth (or signs!) of babes!
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