Eye Catching

I recently spoke at a MOPS (Mother's Of Preschoolers) group in Fresno, and as I prepared God brought back so many memories of when my children were small. Some of them I enjoyed once again with a giggle, others brought a tinge of sadness and the onset of tears. The Lord and I had such a good time looking back at the history of my parenting methods. In the midst of those memories God began speaking to me about His faithfulness.

My Beautiful Brittney Now

I remember a time when Brittney was small, probably about 4, and we were shopping at Macy’s around Christmas time. It was so crowded, and I warned her of the dangers of being separated from me. I told her there would be times when I would be unable to hold her hand and asked her to hold on to my pants. This was difficult for her because people were pushing and trying to get in front of us at the counters. She did pretty well for about 15 minutes. Then it dawned on me, she was no longer hanging on. My heart immediately leaped into overload as it beat out of fear. I quickly took a scan of people walking away from me to see if they had convinced her to follow them, but I saw only a sea of adults making their way to their next big purchase. Then I noticed her tiny little frame standing near the jewelry counter. You see she was not allured away by some evil person planning to do harm, she was lured away by something that caught her eye. She was mesmerized by what she saw and didn’t even realize I was not standing next to her. In fact it was at that very moment that she grabbed on to a strangers pants thinking they were mine. As she gazed up to instruct me to look at what she had found, she realized she had grabbed the wrong leg. She began looking around. I simply stepped back into the isle out of her sight. She raised her body up on her tip toes, straining her neck as she tried to see around and over people. I could tell she was beginning to feel the panic I had felt just moment ago. I watched her walk a few feet from the counter. She began to cry and call out, “Mommy, mommy where are you?” I didn’t immediately step forward. Now I know there are some that will see this as mean, but I wasn’t doing it for my own entertainment. I was trying to impress on her the danger she could get into without me. After a few moments I stepped out from behind the counter and knelt down to her eye level. In a soft calm tone I simply called out, “Brittney my love, here I am.” She quickly ran back to me, and hugged my neck as if she hadn’t seen me in years. She didn’t move from my side the rest of the day.

I have to admit I am very much like that little girl of 4. There are times when Satan tries to lure me away with the intent of destroying me and then there are times when I simply begin to wonder away because of something else that has caught my attention. Regardless, He is never far from us. Hebrews 13:5b says, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’" I believe however there are times when we can’t see Him clearly. There are times when He reminds us to stay near to Him, by making us search for Him. I know in my own life I have called out in panic, “Daddy, where are you?” To which His reply is always with a calm soft voice, “Kim my love, here I am.” I can hardly believe His love for me, it brings tears to my eyes even now as I write this. How I pray that we hold on to Him for dear life, because without Him...well I guess you could say there is no life at all.

Blessed to be His!

Kim