October 23 – “Braving the Boundary”

We had a visit from some grandkids yesterday.  Always a big event around here.  Jachin and Micah and Josiah hit the front door and usually head straight for the pantry.  Gotta keep those growing boys fed twenty-four hours a day.  And Noa has kind of started a “thing” with me.  She searches until she finds the TV remote, wherever it may be.  Then she searches until she finds DadDad, because obviously the silly thing belongs to him. 

Yesterday she grabbed it off of the couch and headed into my office.  I heard her coming, alternately mumbling “DadDad” and calling out “DadDad.”  She saw me just as she got to the spot where the area rug meets the hardwood floor.  And she stopped.  Dead in her tracks.  Wouldn’t move another inch.  I smiled and asked what she had.  She proudly held up her prize and said a robust, “DadDad.”  Guess I’m not sure if she was naming the remote or offering it to me.  Instead of moving over to her, though, I encouraged her to bring it over to me.  No movement.  I kept smiling and held out my hand.  Nope.  I told her “Thank you.”  No dice.  Finally I just held out my hand and waited.  The internal struggle was obviously intense.  “Should I get any closer?  Can this strange bearded creature really be trusted?  My brothers seem to accept him OK, but then, they are boys, and even though I’m only one year old, I know how boys can be.  I know the game is for me to give this TV thing to him.  But to come closer, to step over this easily seen boundary line?  I am just not sure.”  Finally her inner voice must have deemed me safe enough to risk at least a step onto the rug.  It was a tiny one, but a major landmark in her quest.  I encouraged her with, “That’s it.  It’s OK.  You can bring it all the way over here.”  Of course, “all the way” would be about five steps for her little legs, so it might just as well have been the Grand Canyon.  My dashing smile and welcoming demeanor finally won her over, though.  She managed those last few steps.  Well, actually she managed four of the five, then leaned over as far as she could, like there was some kind of invisible wall between us.  I leaned over, too, and finally got close enough to receive the magnificent gift.  Of course the requisite “Thank you’s” followed.  I thought for a brief second that she might even get close enough to give me a quick hug, but that was way too much to ask for.  She took one last look over her shoulder, flashed a rather disarming grin, and toddled away, content that she had accomplished her purpose for this journey. 

Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.”

Father, thank you for brave steps and accomplished purposes.  Help Noa - and me -  achieve many, many more of both.  Amen.