December 16 – “A 4 Year Old Philosopher”

Our Home Group White Elephant party is tonight, so there has been quite a flurry of activity around here all afternoon.  Chris is definitely in "cleaning mode," so I try to stay out of her way when I can and do little things to help out.  I did manage to put my clothes away and get some work done.    But the star of today has been Micah, our 4 year-old grandson.  His brothers both had doctor's appointments this morning, so he came over here to play with us.  That's a pretty special treat for the newly inaugurated middle child in that family.  He already has some highlights on Facebook on his Mom's page.  Micah is quite the conversationalist … and philosopher.   He really wanted to play outside, so we started off in a rousing game of imaginary baseball.  The rules were roughly akin to regular baseball, but whenever Micah scored it seemed to count for four points.  And Nana had zero points.  I was usually considered to be on Micah's team, even when I pitched the imaginary ball to him.  The game really got interesting, though when he switched it over to animals of the jungle baseball.  Each of us had to become an animal and play baseball as that creature would.  Chris said she was a baboon.  I immediately chose to be an elephant.  Imagine the fastball I could toss with my trunk.  Of course it couldn't compare with Micah's fastball to Nana.  She never did see it.  I was excited about batting, too. As an elephant.  Imagine the power in my stroke.  Especially since I was on Micah's team.  I was destined for glory.  Micah was a monkey for awhile, but when it came down to taking his turn at bat, he became a leopard.  And you should have seen it when he took his swings … with his tail.  There was no one on earth who could have thrown him out after that sight.  Except maybe his older brother, but he wasn't here.   On one of our breaks Micah and I were discussing what the animals liked to eat.  He was a monkey at the time, so bananas were his choice.  I was still an elephant, so I asked if I could have one.  "No, DadDad.  Elephants eat hay."  I didn't see any hay, but he assured me there was some over on the side of the house.   Just after that we sat down in the grass and Micah sighed, "I wanna be something really fast, but I don't wanna be a butterfly."  I asked why and he quickly replied, "Because first you have to be a caterpillar, and I really don't want to be a caterpillar."  Hmm.  I had to ponder that one for a moment.  I finally told him, "Yep.  Sometimes we have to do stuff we don't like before we can do stuff we do like.  Kinda like being a caterpillar before you can be a butterfly."  He looked at me with a deadly serious stare, and after what seemed a long silence, he quietly said, "Yeah, DadDad.  That's right."   It didn't take long sitting in the grass before he discovered a few snails in the garden.  One of them experienced the wrath of the Micah Monster rather quickly. But as he stood with his foot poised over the snail ready to stomp, he paused and asked, "Can I squish him?"  How do you say no to a little boy in mid-squish?  We did find a few others, though.  And I suggested we go look in the garage for a box to build a snail habitat.  That was grand news.  Now he could take them home with him.  The garage door opened to reveal our pile of garage-type junk.  But not so to Micah's eyes.  No, indeed.  This was a treasure trove of priceless artifacts.  "Wow, DadDad.  You have a broken chair," he said in awe.  "And you have a wagon.  DadDad, you have everything."   Now how can I not be content?  I have everything.   Philippians 4:11-13 says, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength."   Father, thank you for packing so much wisdom in the mouths of little guys like Micah.  Amen.