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An Observer
By Moriah on September 14th, 2009
About once a month there is a children’s sermon at our church and all the kids are invited to walk down to the front steps and participate. Yesterday was the day. (Also, Adelaide’s first time since we started having her in the service with us.)
I was also signed up for infant nursery duty. I had sat in there for about a half an hour with two other ladies, and no babies came, so I ended up going back to the sanctuary. Andy and the kids had sat up in the balcony, him being alone with the three kids. (There’s an iffy situation if I ever saw one.)
By the time I sat down, he had walked the girls down to the front of the church. (Drew was using the bathroom and missed it.)
So I got to be a helpless observer for Adelaide’s, um, performance. She initially sat down, but then jumped up and started heading up the choir stairs. Madeline, ever the big sister, tried to grab her hand and pull her back to her seat.
Adelaide snatched her hand away and sat back down, only to jump and run up the stairs again.
Rinse and repeat about six times with an increasing amount of drama.
Finally Andy had to walk down and sit in the front pew so she wouldn’t be tempted to continue her self-endorsed playtime.
But the thought struck me as I sat there and watched; I could do nothing. I couldn’t control her, especially at such a distance. I was obliged to simply be an observer.
Sure, yes, we can train and teach and try to mold our kids and lead them in the way they should go. But ultimately, it IS the Holy Spirit who works in our kids’ lives and hearts. We do nothing but watch.
7 Responses to “An Observer”
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I hope I don’t sound like a broken record when I say that your last paragraph applies just as well to my college-age son who left home a few weeks ago, as it does to a toddler out of reach. A hard fact to accept.
what an amazing thing to consider- not what i have to look forward to so far as crazy kids (ha!), but the fact that we ultimately have no control, but are lead by the Holy Spirit. thanks so much for the post!
You are so right Moriah!! I have been learning this too…it’s freeing in a sense, but it’s scary and hard. Extra motivation to prayer ever more fervently for our kids, huh?
That is a hard concept for a control freak like me!
You’re right on. But isn’t it hard?
Yes, and I do thank God for it because the number of times I do it wrong far outnumber the times I do it “right.” He is so very gracious.
And if it helps we didn’t see a thing except Andy walk down. I just figured he was coming close to be available when it was over. And praise for hope – the little girl people used to pay money to watch at programs and who was not allowed to go to music camp because of her ballet recital antics can’t hardly be found in the crowd anymore!
So true! I was just lamenting over the fact that I can’t control what Rayna eats while she’s at lunch. We had a note sent home that she hardly eats anything at lunch and the day I sent lunch to school all she ate was the cookies.