i have seen all through fatherhood, from even before they were born, that my kids teach me lesson upon lesson about life and love. it's just never been this blatant before. God might as well show up at the door with a singing telegram. it would be no more direct than this.
my two-year old, caedmon, loves things. i mean, he just loves things. he latches on to some particular possession - it doesn't seem to matter the real value of it - and takes it everywhere. for the last few weeks its been the Bible. not just any Bible, but my paperback copy of the message translation of the new testament. this is a big deal for him. the book is about as big as his whole upper body. and he takes it everywhere. to church, sure, but also to bed. and to breakfast. and to the bathroom. if he inadvertently puts it down, it takes only a moment before he realizes it, panics, and goes into a frantic search for it. at mealtime he puts it under his plate, like a foundation for his food. during the day i'll catch him periodically flipping through the pictureless pages.
he's latched onto possessions before (cars, costumes, advertisements) but never quite like this. this level of object obesession is unparalelled in his 33 months. and so, before God shows up with a two by four to beat me over the head with, i figure i should probably get the message.
"i delight in your statutes. i will not neglect your word," says the poet in psalm 119:16. and somehow, cade innately knows this. he is demonstrating the zeal of the psalmist to me in his own two-year-old way. he delights in this big book. and he doesn't neglect it. it's simple, i know, but maybe caedmon is really onto something here. i mean, maybe i should be as unashamedly and unswervingly dedicated to the word of God as he is. maybe i should be as uncomfortable when i forget about it. maybe i should be as dedicated to keeping it with (in) me. maybe i should lug it around and even when it feels too big, or too boring, or too heavy, crack it open and see if life doesn't just come pouring out of it. maybe i need to do a bit more delighting in it.
maybe caedmon has no idea about all this. or maybe he does. who knows? what i do know is that he is a perfect little blond-haired, blue-eyed reminder to me that i ought to be consumed with zeal for the gift that is God's word. and that i will never again be able to read psalm 119 without picturing him on the toilet, naked, holding his Bible.
thanks for the lesson, buddy. keep teaching me.
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~Gail~