Trust

and two year olds. 

I've been thinking about that a lot this week.

I remember a Sunday school teacher once calling and asking me to share my thoughts on what it means to be "childlike."  She meant it in the context of what we read in the scriptures about the need to be like a little child in order to enter the the Kingdom of Heaven.

I've sometimes been puzzled by that, actually.  As you observe small children, they are often grabbing what they want, hitting, and pushing, etc.  (Unfortunately, we can also observe that in adults who haven't learned to control their behavior).

But the meaning of it has become more clear to me this last week with Lucienne, who is two.  She got an earache right before I came out and Tiffany took her to the doctor.  So every morning and night I have had to give her medicine with a syringe.   The first few days she would just say, "Don't need medicine."  But gradually she has gotten to the point where, when she sees me filling the syringe, she stands there and watches and waits as I do it.  Then I set her on the counter, cradle her in my arms, and hold her down.  She always starts fighting and tries to spit it out, but once it's done she sits up and is happy again.

A couple of times she has also come to me with hang nails.  Obviously Tiffany clips them with a nail clipper, as she brings one to me.  I don't want to clip them, because I'm afraid I'll hurt her.  But she totally trusts me to do it.  She's obviously learned that trust.

So, when I think of these experiences with Luci, it reminds me of what it means to be childlike in our relationship with our Father in Heaven.  We may try to put up a fight, or cry, or become angry with the way things seem to be in our lives or the lives of others.   But through it all, we can know that we are in good hands and can trust that everything will be ok. 

Can there be anything sweeter than a two year old?  I wish I could bottle up her sweetness, trust, and  joyful attitude, and take it (or her) home with me.