I Got It!

Reagan at 5. What a delight she is!

I find so much joy in the faces of children. There is something so adorable about the innocence you see in their eyes. I am so drawn to my nieces and my nephew. There are 6 in all, and each one of them holds a special place in my heart. Reagan, who is now 8, is a child rooted in determination. There are many things that she does that make my heart swoon, but it is her independence that makes me laugh with delight. When she was three she would often be heard saying two very simple words. “Got it.” Now these don’t sound like much, but when you understand their meaning you realize that to her, they are the very words that expresses who she is. There would be a cup sitting on the counter much to high for her little hands to reach and the minute you would go to grab the cup for her she would say, “got it.” Or she could be climbing over an obstacle that was in her way, and the minute you would put your hand on her, then tiny little frame, to help her over she would yell, “got it.” In fact she would ask for your help and the minute she realized that you had gotten the task to a level she could complete she would look at you with those sea green eyes, red hair falling around her shoulders and once again the words “got it” emerged from her lips. You see she really wanted to accomplish everything by herself. She'd say these words so often; my brother and sister in-law bought her a t-shirt with “got it” spelled out on the front of it. I remember a day when she was over visiting and she asked for some juice. I went to the kitchen with her on my heels. Once I had gotten the glass from the cupboard, and the juice from the refrigerator, she immediately started saying in her tiny 3 year old voice, “got it…got it.” So I bellied her up to the table, set her glass down, and handed her the juice. With her two chubby hands she began to pour. She missed the glass several times while pouring, but the kicker came at the very end. She saw it was getting full, but she didn’t have the strength to stop it in time. You guessed it the juice flowed over the rim of the cup like the waterfalls seen at Yosemite. Juice everywhere! She was no longer saying, “got it,” now she was saying “ah oh.” She knew that by insisting on doing it herself she had made a mess. As I walked over to the sink to grab a rag, the Lord spoke so softly in my ear. “She didn’t rely on you for her provision.” I knew another lesson was coming. “I know Lord, but it is not a big mess. It will only take a minute to clean it up.” I am sure you can almost guess what her words were when I approached the table to clean things up. “Got it,” she began saying, with her hands outstretched towards the towel. I gave it to her of course; thinking this would help her understand she needed to clean up after herself. After several minutes I released her from the table, and looked at what use to be a contained pool of sticky juice. It no longer knew any boundaries. It had been scattered all over the table, chairs and floor. Again the Lord spoke, “She didn’t rely on your intervention.” As I sopped up the mess, He continued to speak to my heart. “My dear sweet Child. There are so many times that you have made a mess because you have chosen to do things on your own. Got it, is not something that comes from your mouth. It comes from every man’s heart." Then He reminded me of Matthew 11:28-29. “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” I don’t know about you, but I am so tired of making messes. I am so tired of trying to clean them up, only to find I have spread that which I tried to contain. When will I take Him at his word and let him teach me the simplest of tasks. My weariness comes from my own lack of submission to His authority, ability, and power. Oh how I pray, we learn to rely on Him for who He is. The Alpha and the Omega, and the everything in between.

Blessed to be His!

Kim