A Child’s Ta-Da

My sons gave me some hilarious memories during their growing up years. A favorite for Jeff was one day when he burst into the kitchen shouting, “Look Mom, I can twirl,” at which point he began to twist his body around in circles attempting to get himself dizzy enough to fall down. I don’t know who was laughing harder at the end of his exhibition—him or me.

For Brian, the topper has to be the time he and Jeff were playing in a mud puddle next to our driveway. Hearing sounds of little boy glee—which almost always means trouble—I went  outside to see what was going on. “See me, Mommy,” gurgled Brian. He was covered head to toe with mud, literally, helped very generously by his brother Jeff. As I recount this, I’m wondering how I ever cleaned him up, but it was probably first by turning a hose on him because he was far too muddy to put in the bathtub.

To quote Sheila Walsh in WHEN A WOMAN TRUSTS GOD, children seem to be born “with a God-given Ta-da inside, confident that everyone in the room will be overjoyed to see them make an entrance.”

Unfortunately, life has ways of erasing that self-assurance and enthusiasm. Fear, depression, shame, lack of self esteem can take over our lives, but we do our best to hide all that and pretend that we “have it all together.” (To any male readers out there, just because I'm referring to a book aimed at women doesn't mean it might not be applicable to you, too.)

Here’s an adult “ta-da.” The good news is that Jesus offers to help us overcome these unhappy emotions. He said “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way.” (John 7:37-3 MSG)  After just finishing a study on Revelation, I was especially struck by the invitation issued in the latter part of verse 17 of chapter 22: “And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (NKJV)

Sheila continues. “This isn’t just for those whose children are model students and whose husbands know how to load the dishwasher. …or made good choices up until this very moment. It is an invitation to anyone who has finally come to the place where they are tired of pretending that everything is fine

“It’s scary to come out of hiding if you have lived that way for years…[but] God knows everything about you and loves you [anyway].”  Seems to me that offer is worth taking the risk.