by Todd
Wiping the crumbs from last night’s dinner off her high-chair tray prompted me with the thought, “What can I teach her over breakfast”. Whiteboards with colored shapes, counting blocks and cards with large words scribed in red ink have become our breakfast-mates. The morning sun highlights her blonde curls as I fix the bib around her neck and she kicks her feet with delight. My planning is brief and guided by the fact that I will be walking her down the aisle much sooner than I expect.
“Today we have a new verse to memorize!” I say with a little more excitement than I would to somebody twice her height. Her spoon is eagerly dunked into the milk/raisin bran mix and in no time she has a drop of milk suspended from her little chin. She takes another bite.
“In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength. Isaiah thirty, fifteen”. My words are shadowed by my own body movements, ending with a simulated pose of a strong-man showing off his biceps. I repeat this several times, while my own cereal gradually looses the perfect crunch. I explain deep theology with brief, simple statements “God wants us to rely on His strength. We are weak, He is always strong. We need to rest in Him.” I make up for lost time by chugging down a few spoonfuls of cereal, probably looking like a seagull on the beach forcing down one meal so he won’t miss the next.
Now I ask her to say it with me. Her lips attempt to form the words as she watches my mouth. A full-hearted congratulation encourages her to attempt it once more, only this time it is stifled by a few flakes of bran and a raisin in her mouth. Within minutes, she begins to link words into phrases. Her eager feet show the excitement of progress. In a few mornings she will recite it and I will respond like a fanatical bleacher fan whose home team just won the super bowl (short of the face paint and bare chest).
Am I really making a difference? Will these words bear fruit in her life? “Repentance”, “salvation”, “trust”—these are all big words for someone requiring a sippy-cup. God’s Word never returns void, I know that full well. But the greatest determining fact in how far this training goes lies not in how well it is memorized, but in how well it is demonstrated. As she recites this passage on her own, I ask myself “Am I quiet before Him?” “Do I take the time to rest?” “Have I given God the small things?”
As time progresses, I realize that each verse I instill in her heart is an opportunity for me to display how a follower of Jesus lives. This work of teaching holds us both accountable, and sets my own life as exhibit A. She looks to me as a model of Jesus and I look to Him for strength to live it out. I see now that I am both parenting and being parented; training the child and learning to be a child.
I look forward to the day I hear Him commend her “Well done, good and faithful servant”. There is a lot of work between now and then, but we will take it one bowl of raisin bran at a time.
