October 2 – “Toddlers on your head”

 

 

We had babysitting duty the other night with Jachin, Micah, and Josiah.  Kel and Christina were going out to dinner and then over to their church for a youth event.  They were going to show that movie about the girl surfer who had her arm bitten off by a shark.  They debated going to a different movie with just the two of them, but by the time they finished eating they had missed the start time.  I think they might have regretted that miss a bit when they got to the church and Kel ended up having two or three pastor-type meetings. 

 

The boys introduced us to the Wii game they have starring the Mario Brothers.  I have certainly never played it before, and as far as I know Chris never had either.  Made for an interesting hour or so.  Jachin is of course a master.  And Micah is not that far behind him.  They would stop before each new level and explain to us what to look for and how to operate the tool.  I still don't completely get it. 

 

I finally figured out that whenever I got in trouble, all I had to do was push button A and my little character would end up in a protective bubble until it was hit by one of the other characters.  That came in real handy, since I couldn't even figure out which character was mine.  Then Josiah decided that he wanted to play.  Not so much play the video game, though.  His thought was that since a new, large lump of humanity had deposited itself on his couch, it would be a perfectly appropriate time to climb said mass.  So as Mount DadDad I was the obvious first choice. 

 

It didn't take him long to make his way onto the couch and then onto my lap.  For the briefest of seconds he was content to rest himself there and turn and shake the controller like his brothers were doing.  But the respite was only to regain his strength and momentum for the push to the peak.  Before long the trials of the Brothers Mario were a faint memory of a time long past, for Josiah was moving on.  He cleared Shoulder Peak and paused once again to gain his bearings.  But the end was in sight.  Reaching for my ears to gain a foothold, he hoisted himself the final short distance and held on.  He had done it.  Reached the peak.  Achieved the goal.  Perched precariously on his stomach upon my head, he looked around to survey the heights of his accomplishment.  And realizing that I had returned my focus to the television, he twisted his body around so his face was mere inches from my own, as if to say, "Nothing else here but me, so pay attention."  What was one to do?  Dutifully, I once again pushed button A and floated off into the world of mountains and valleys and toddlers on your head.

 

Proverbs 27:19 says, "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."

Father, help me more often to look at the world from the perspective of a precarious perch on my stomach on the head of the one I trust more than anything.  Amen.