Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The Big Lesson I learned from a Two Year Old on a Merry-Go-Round

Tonight's post is part vacation story and part inspiration.
I hope you will get a chuckle out of the vacation part and  be blessed by the inspirational part. 
 
The first day we were at Disneyland it was very hot and of course the kids were really amped up. My Bug wanted to ride the carousel and Monkey wanted to go shopping (and I really wanted a cold drink and some food), but we did the carousel first. I was in charge of Bug and Bryanna was in charge of Monkey and Gary was in charge of the camera. I strapped Bug on to the pony of her choice but she is so tiny that the strap didn't really fit her that well. She is also not the type of child that sits still AT ALL so I put my arm around her to keep her safe. I wasn't holding on tightly and was not interfering with her riding pleasure at all. But she was getting so upset with me and kept pushing my hand away. With each push she got more and more angry. I tried to explain that I was just trying to keep her safe. But she insisted that I take my hand away. I of course did not listen to her because I needed to know she wouldn't fall off and if she did I could quickly grab her. But with each push of her hand and each angry plea to leave her alone I got a little more frustrated. After all, all I was trying to do was protect her. I have to admit by the time the ride was over I was feeling really hurt. Why couldn't she just be nice? Why couldn't this just be fun for both of us? Gary did manage to get pictures of her smiling on the carousel and I was thankful that she managed a smile each time we came around to where he was standing with the camera. When we got off the carousel Gary and I headed off for that cold drink and lunch that I wanted and a little break from the kiddos.
 

Once we arrived home I was sitting on the patio and I was listening to the radio (I listen to KLOVE a Christian station) when this song came on, I had heard it before but never really listened that closely to the words. But on this day I did. I wish I knew the title of the song but I don't remember. The song was talking about how God is always right there with us in the good and the bad times. And how He just wants to protect us and provide for us not hinder us and stifle us. He is not trying to stop us from enjoying our life, instead He is poised and ready to catch us when we fall. But we think we can do it on our own, that we don't need His help (until things are really bad).
 
As I listened to this song, my mind went right back to Bug on that carousel. This is how we treat God sometimes. We keep pushing Him away and getting angry with Him. We think we don't need His presence in every moment of our life. But I not only saw how we react, I saw how He must feel each time we push Him away. He must get so frustrated with us,  knowing that it is only because He loves us so much and wants us to be safe. He must get so hurt thinking of how He just wants to enjoy being with us and He must wish we would just be nice sometimes.  
 
I have thought of this lesson each day and tonight while sitting on the patio, listening to the radio and chatting with Gary before he went to bed, I told Gary about the song and the lesson I had learned from my two year old granddaughter on the carousel. I was very surprised by his reaction to my little story (he doesn't always "get" my little stories and analogies). He told me he wanted me to write it down so that we would both remember it. He said it had touched him. So, here I am writing it down so we can remember this lesson about how much God loves us and wants to protect us.
I hope this little story of mine will remind you also about how much God loves you and wants to be part of your life.
till we meet again. . .

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