Parenthood

Who’s Holding Who?

Blog_HoldingHandsThough my 3-year old son insists he’s “bigger now” and can “do everything” without my help, I still want to hold his hand when we cross the street. He typically yanks his hand away to emphasize his independence. “No, Mommy…I can do it myself!”

While I don’t doubt his capacity to cross the street without assistance, I do question his understanding of the potential dangers of oncoming cars. And so I’ve changed strategies. Instead of asking him to hold my hand, I ask if he’ll let me hold his. “Mommy needs your help,” I tell him. “Can you protect me from the cars?”

Being the little gentleman that he is, he quickly takes my hand, smile on his dimpled face, and leads me like a little pro. Smart as he is, he hasn’t come to suspect my ulterior motives. I don’t need his help; he needs mine. In the end, I’m the one leading him, not the other way around.

It’s much the same when God calls us to serve. Does he who created the heavens and earth need our help to keep the world spinning? Yet he’s chosen to work through frail humanity, and as he does we become increasingly aware of our dependence on him.

As we navigate life’s challenges, we may be tempted to say, “It’s okay, I can do it myself!” God lets us move forward until we realize how impossible it is apart from his help. We look up and see that all the while, he was holding our hand, leading us, showing us our need for his intervention.

“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13)

 

Photo Credit: Free stock photo of person, walking, young

With

Blog_FathersDayOne talent I would love to have been gifted with is the eye for photography. I admire those with a knack for getting the perfect shot at the right time, in the right lighting. My reflexes are a little slow, my hand a bit shaky, so my pictures tend to turn out blurry and off-center.

For a while, I didn’t bother to take pictures at all. Until my kids came along. Now I’m a regular mamarazzi. That’s paparazzi, take out the Papa, add the Mama. Of the multitudes of pictures I’ve now taken, a few have actually turned out okay.

Among my favorites is one of my husband sitting on our daughter’s bike as she walks alongside him. It almost looks as though she’s schooling him in the art of bike riding when in reality, he’s teaching her, and humbling himself a bit along the way.

The picture aptly captures what I love about my husband. He’s a good father, and he loves our kids so much he’ll relinquish the more “important” things on his agenda to invest quality time with them. And most often, he relates to them on their level.

It’s also a picture of what I love so much about my God. He loved us enough to lay down his very life, to relate to us on our level. Emmanuel—a name most often associated with Christmas, is equally appropriate for Father’s Day. It means God is with us. And that’s the kind of father he is: one who sacrificed everything to be with his children forever.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1)

 

Photo Copyright j.e. fernandez