Did He like it?

I finally came up with the perfect hashtag for toddlerhood… #allthequestions There are just so many questions. As a mom, I answer some questions on autopilot, later regretting the nodding of my head that absentmindedly gave consent to allowing the girls to move all of their clothes into my room so they could play “new closet” (yesterday) or, as all good parents do, I end up making up an answer with just the right amount of confidence, just so the questions will stop “That allergy pill just tastes like a piece of Animal Cracker because they put Animal Cracker flavoring in it for the kids who do not like it, your stuffy nose from crying because you don’t want to go to bed will be better as soon as you fall asleep (last year)”and lastly there is the brush-off and distract technique that came in quite handy last week on the 4th of July…”How fireworks work is a very scientific question that we can explore and study together later, look there is a bright pink one!!”

However, there are some questions that just make you want to stop everything, pull them into your lap and have a long heart- to- heart discussion. In those moments, you remember that all of the questions they cycle through are worth it for the times when they articulate one that you just can’t wait to answer. One such moment occurred last week while our family was serving at a youth camp. My sweet three year old, Scarlett, was in my arms during one of the morning worship services, and she was just singing her heart out. Scarlett is extremely talented musically in that she learns a tune very well and can remember the words to a song after just hearing it once, so she really knew what to sing after hearing the camp songs a few times! As we were walking out of the service. she looked up at me and said the following string of thoughts

“I sang to Jesus! Mom, I was really talking to Him! And He really liked it! I mean, I    think He did. I hope He did. Mom, did He like it?”

I was joyfully and gratefully taking in her excited chatter about the time she had just spent with Jesus, until she got to her question. Then I stopped in my tracks and turned around to relieve her worries and told her that He definitely liked it, He loved it! The look on her face could only be described as beaming with untold relief and elation!

In the week that has followed, I have been mulling over the appropriateness of her question and have found myself convicted of not asking it myself. The Lord brought Galations 1:10 to mind, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” You see, Scarlett embodies this really well. I have never seen a child with such a lack of concern for the opinions of others. She even introduced herself to the teenage campers this week like this, ” I’m old. I’m 3. I’m dangerous and I’m Scarlett.” She did not care that she was younger than almost everyone there or that she was working on walking a pretend balance beam while the others were conquering the zip line. She is confident in who she is, but when it came to pleasing the Lord, she took pause and sought assurance that she had made Him happy. Let us all take a tip out of Scarlett’s play book this week and walk in confidence among people and humility with the Lord, finding our fullest joy in knowing that we please the Lord by examining not only our worship but our daily actions and as we ask, “Did He like it?” Be prepared to be pulled into His lap and filled with His attention and love as He has been ready and waiting for those words to cycle through our endless questions. It will be a welcome break from “Will they ever sleep through the night?”  🙂