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Teachable Moments

Anyone who knows Maddy knows that instead of Mae, her middle name should have been Persistence. Maddy Persistence Fletcher. Kinda has a ring to it. For example, this summer, my cousin, Jessica, told Maddy that maybe if she rubbed two sticks together she could make a fire. Well, Maddy really wanted to make a fire, so she found two sticks and rubbed them together. FOR HOURS. Until she rubbed a raw place on her finger. Maybe persistence is too mild of a word for what this girl can do when she gets something in her mind.
For the last several months, Maddy has been incredibly persistent in prayer. Her prayer has been "I wish everything I wish was real was real". This means that she would would like all the Disney princesses, Scooby Doo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Woody the Woodpecker to turn into real life people/animals on her doorstep.
Tonight was no different.....well not at the beginning. She prayed the usual words. Then paused and added, "And I'm getting really tired of waiting for it so make it happen tonight!" Uh. Oh. I had to speak up. "Maddy," I said, "do you understand that sometimes God says no when we ask him to do something?" She looked at me in shock. "Uh....no....". Me: "Well sometimes he says no. God always wants what's best for us and sometimes what we pray for isn't best so he says no, but we may not understand why until later when we get older." Maddy: "Well, why wouldn't it be best for them to be real? What would be wrong with that?" Well, if you know Maddy, you know we spent the entire dinner conversation going through every single character that she wished was real and why it might not be good if they actually came to life. I admit I had to stretch it. Snow White likes to clean so maybe she would make you do lots of chores. Cinderella makes friends with mice. Mice are gross. They'd probably steal all our food. Belle...well Belle (think! think! who wouldn't want to meet Belle? She loves books. She's nice. She the only Disney Princess that I can actually stand...ummm..blank, blank, blank)....Maddy: "Probably we wouldn't want her to be real because we'd have to meet Beast. Me: Right! (whew!) That would be scary!.......And so on and so on and so forth.
So tonight, at bed time, she didn't say that part of her prayer. Instead she prayed for some other things and then, when she was done, she said, "I didn't pray for everything I wish was real to be real because we had a talk about that and I understand."
As I sat beside her, waiting for her to drift off to sleep, I thought about it. About how that is how I pray so often. "God. This person is sick. Make them better." "God, they're not getting better. Heal them. Please!!!" "God, we're running out of time. We need some healing here. How about at exactly 12 midnight you make this all go away."
Maddy's desire was obviously really, really important to her. I mean, she prayed that same prayer, over and over, every chance she got. FOR MONTHS. But when I explained about God wanting the best for her and helped her think it through, she accepted it. Faith like a child.
I think about this and think, she hasn't known God very long. This is really important to her, yet she can trust him (okay and me cause I know at this stage this is partly trusting that Mom is not steering her wrong) that not getting this thing that she really, really, REALLY wants is okay. And I think about my trust and how hard it has been and still is for me to really trust. Really believe that God is doing the best. The best for me. The best for each and every person on this earth that loves him. Teachable moments.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ah, the wisdom of children. I could use this lesson in my impatience.
brittany
Sara Funk said…
This is really eye opening and important! Wow, it really is such a perspective of "faith like a child." I understand this so much more now, and I know Carson is only going to teach me even more.
bee said…
Maddy blows me away. Her understanding of things is mind boggling. I know she is only 5 years old and doesn't get everything, but her willingness to make changes and to accept on faith that she is doing the right thing is so humbling to me. I need to sit up and take notice. Thank you Holly for sharing, and thank you Maddy for teaching.

Unknown said…
You are such a good mommy! You teach how to understand those wants and still steer them towards Gods light in all thing. Amazing and good to hear thanks for sharing!

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