Monday afternoon I combined my love for little kids with my two college career choices. My first career ambition was to be a safety engineer. I was fascinated at the thought of working at NASA one day and longed for the feeling of watching a shuttle, I helped make “safe” take flight. After a summer internship of OSHA guidelines and paperwork, I realized that a desk job bored me and I needed to interact with people for my profession. So I went to my second career choice: physical therapy. (I’ll let you know if I chose to stick this job out or not) Anyways, Monday afternoon I presented an educational activity to pre-school children on house fire safety. As I spent the afternoon teaching them about escape plans and stop, drop, and roll; they were teaching me the world through the eyes of 4 year olds. I learned about family pets that had been named as a result of their young imaginations and I learned the value of a sword saber that protects you against adults (I am still trying to land one of those for myself). I also learned that the next time I go to a preschool, a prepared lesson isn’t necessary. I just need to remember to bring stickers and glow in the dark bracelets.
My experience brought me back to my college days where I sustained myself financially (and emotionally) by being a pre-school teacher. And my time with these energetic care-free children reminded me of my days as a tot. The most entertaining stories from my childhood stem from my imaginary friends. (For the record, studies have been done which states children who have imaginary friends ultimately have higher IQ’s) I like to think that I set the bar high in the world of imaginary friends because one wasn’t enough; I had four. And although I had four friends, Lulie was by far my favorite. Lulie and I did everything together. Once, WE had a tea party with my grandma and WE got our tea from the toilet because WE couldn’t reach the kitchen or bathroom sink. Another time WE had to stand in the corner and WE peeled the wallpaper from as far up as we could reach to the floor. And when WE would go anywhere in the car, I would throw a complete temper tantrum if WE both didn’t have snack bags. I looked out for Lulie and made sure she got tucked in at night, got her hair washed in the bathtub, and got extra syurp on her pancakes on Saturday mornings. She returned the favor by allowing me to blame her when I made a mess, broke my sister’s toys, or lied to my parents. Even at 4, I was trying to outsmart my parents by blaming Lulie each and every time I was in trouble. I had the perfect set up until one Christmas, my dad outsmarted me. We were at a Christmas party with many other children and santa clause was passing out gifts to all of us. As I was waiting for my name to be called, santa said, “I have a gift for Lulie.” Of course, I jumped up on Santa’s lap and claimed that gift. I opened OUR gift, fully expecting to be the only child with 2 gifts, and was stunned at the contents of the shoe box. Inside were sticks and stones. Why would Lulie be getting sticks and stones? I marched right over to my dad and said, “Santa brought Lulie the wrong gift.” To which he replied, “Santa has a good list and a bad list. Lulie is on the bad list because she is always misbehaving.” He then went on to explain that I too may be on the bad list because I’m always Lulie’s accomplice. Well friends, any four year old would do anything to get toys, games, and fun delights opposed to sticks and stones for Christmas. So like that Lulie was gone forever.
I’m certainly not a child anymore ( I can still outsmart my dad at times) but I can assure you that I know when to choose a reward opposed to a box of sticks. But how many times have I jumped up on God’s lap, expecting greatness and been handed a devastating blow? When God gives us the choice to either change or to face the consequences, which do we do? I am not proud of the times that I traded in my obedience, my faith, my strength, my love, and my adoration for Christ because I saw an ugly result. And I am especially not proud of the fact that God was my best friend when my life was perfect but as soon as I thought I might lose something He was gone. Just like when I was a child, I have the perfect set up in Christ. When I am backed into a corner in life, I am not alone. When I enjoy the company of family and friends (I now prefer coffee over tea), He is right there with me. And most importantly, when I find myself in trouble; God delivers me time and time again. Why would any of us want to shut that out of our lives? When God reveals a needed change in our life or makes us aware of the reality of our actions, he isn’t trying to teach us a lesson or punish us. He is giving us the choice to live in His grace which we rarely deserve. When we see an ugly situation or open up a box and are surprised at the contents; it’s not time to rid God from our lives, it’s time to embrace the needed change and allow nothing to separate us from Christ.
I was afraid of seeing my name on the “bad list” as a child and forgot all about the only one who had shared every minute of my imagination with me. God doesn’t have a good list and a bad list but He does have a list of those names written in the book of life. So as an adult, I won’t forget about the only one who shares every minute of my life with me even when I receive a box of rocks opposed to new shoes.
Verse to remember: Colossians 2:5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
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