How Precious Is This?

I saw this photo on the wall of a place that I was interviewing at yesterday. I've actually seen this a number of times and always thought it was a beautiful photograph, but I never thought about it the way that I did at that moment. Like most art, people often wonder, "How did they do that?", and I asked myself the same question as I looked at that photo. Not being a mother myself, but knowing children very well, I knew that getting that obviously newborn child into the hands of someone, in that pose, while they are still asleep, and then capturing that precise lighting was no small feat.

One way that I imagined the man picking up the child would be while it was still asleep, gently slipping his hands above and under the sleeping babe and quietly posing it for the picture. Another scenario I imagined was a sleeping baby being picked up, startled awake and then gently rocked back to sleep in the man's hands. Then it occurred to me. That is precisely what happens in our lives on a pretty regular basis, at least for me. There I am, minding my own business, when something happens to startle me and shake me from what I would rather be doing. I then whine, cry, get frustrated and sometimes scream...but then...what happens?...I get gently rocked back into a peaceful state of mind by the hands of my Father. Has that ever happened to you?

As I said, I know children. The younger they are, the more trusting they are. Why do you think our parents always told us (and now we tell our children) not to talk to strangers - because we are easily led astray or allured by other things from what we should be doing - what is safe.

I wondered about that photo again. What trust that child must have had - even just being a newborn - to trust falling asleep in that man's hands - especially if the child was startled awake and then had to be rocked back asleep. I think back to my experience at a camp when I was in charge of a 9 month old little girl. She was quite fussy, (but also very cute!), and wouldn't want to take her naps when she should. We would lay her down in her pack and play, give her bottles, let her cry it out, nothing really worked. Until one day, while I was holding her, I knew she had to take a nap because she was pretty cranky. But she wasn't having it. I finally decided to hold her just a little bit closer to my chest and rock her. She was squirming and babbling and really didn't want to stay, but I stood my ground, knowing she needed that nap. She finally quieted down and I was able to loosen my grip a bit and held her on my lap laying on top of my arms, her head in my two hands. I rocked her back and forth as she gazed into my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Isn't that what we do as His children? He knows what is best for us at all times. But what do we do most of the time - we fight, we scream, kick, whine and complain...but then He tightens His grip on us a bit and says, "rest in me, there there, just let Me give you rest." And He rocks us - gently, securely, with patience. At first we may say, "No! I don't want this, I want that." Yet He just keeps rocking us, being patient with us, letting us finally relax enough that we can...finally...relax...and...trust...in...Him...and...rest.

Then aren't there times as mothers, grandmothers and caregivers that we check in on our children while they are sleeping? I know that when I was sick with cancer, my mom woke me up often to make sure I was ok. I was pretty annoyed that she did it, but I know she did it out of love. Did I run away from her because she woke me to check on me? No...I trusted that she was doing the right thing and went back to rest. God does that sometimes, doesn't He? He may "wake us up" a bit to make sure we're still ok. And I know there have been times when I was annoyed that He shook up my life, but He always came through for me, letting me eventually rest again in Him. God "wakes us up" not to annoy us, but to prove Himself to us that He cares enough to check in on us and make sure that we are ok. And in the times when we aren't ok, He comes through for us, eventually letting us rest in Him and find renewal in His hands.

"Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matthew 18:3 3 ~

It takes trust to rest in the hands of our Father. We don't always see Him so how do we know that He is supporting our head or making sure we aren't being harmed, or that our lives are safe and peaceful? We trust. Little children trust. Little children step out of their comfort zones in faith to try new things - go across the monkey bars, go down the big slide, swim into the deep end, make new friends...Adults don't do that as often, and I think that is what Christ was talking about here. If we become as little children (trusting and humble, unafraid to step out of our comfort zone), we will see that not only does our Father come through for us, but that He has prepared a glorious kingdom for us if we do.

Are you resting in His hands today?

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Please feel free to visit Allison's blog over at, "Simple Christian Living".