day twelve

are you hearing this god? it’s well after dinner and not much has happened today. i sometimes wonder what god can really do when i’m stuck in the office all day – working independently on projects and not interacting very much with my co-workers. pretty shallow thinking, i know, but still a thought that crosses my mind.

so, i’ve scooped up the munchkins from daycare and after-school, we’ve eaten dinner, and i’ve interacted with them in a variety of ways. my youngest is requesting that we read from her children’s bible, and although i’m tired, how can i refuse. she loves it because each short page ends with a question or two to see if she can remember what the story was about. as i read the stories and ask the questions, i remember how jesus used to spend time with people – asking lots of questions. sometimes he wanted to see if they had been listening. sometimes he wanted to see if they understood. and sometimes he just wanted to see if they were paying attention in the day-to-day activities of their lives. i love the hunger that my youngest is showing towards reading about god. and i imagined him all snuggled up next to us as we read.

my oldest had fallen asleep on the couch and i decided to carry her to bed. i expected her to remain in a deep slumber, but instead she woke up and requested a bath. (there’s a surprise.) and it was at some point during her bath that we entered into this deep discussion about dreams and satan and angels and demons. i explained to her that there would be times in her life when she would hear voices that intended to scare, manipulate, discourage, and tear her down, but that as a child of god, she would know the truth and have the ability to stand against them. it was a great conversation. and i realized that as i was teaching her, she was in fact teaching me as well. i just love the way that her brain works. it literally blows me away.

and then there was this thought. i realized that as she sat on the toilet (all wrapped up and toasty warm in her towel) and as i sat on the edge of the bathtub, that god was standing by the door, leaning against the wall. and all i could do was to smile, shake my head in disbelief of how incredible this moment was with my daughter, and utter, “god, are you hearing this?”