Flamingos, Bibles and Faith
My grandson greets me as I walk into the entryway, a whirling dynamo of energy. He is full of chatter from a recent visit to the zoo.
He talks of elephants and tigers. And flamingos, a current favorite.
We practice standing on one leg, just like the pink birds … for a total of two seconds … before he moves onto the next topic:
his dad’s recent birthday.
Apparently he helped open the gifts. I know this only because my daughter-in-law interprets the rush of words, tumbling over each other, like water through a compressed section of the river.
Micah points to his dad’s present on the second shelf of the entertainment unit – just high enough to be out of reach of little hands.
I lift the gift from the shelf – a brand new Bible – and skim through the pages. The cover is soft leather. Gray. The pages smell new, with no marks or smudges in the corners.
“What a nice present,” I say to Micah.
“Micah! Bible!” he shouts and runs from the room. I hear his feet racing up the carpeted stairs. Half a minute later he is back down, his children’s Bible in his hands.
The pages are torn. Bent. The binding is barely holding together. I know this is the second copy as the first book has already been loved into oblivion.
“Micah’s Bible!” he proclaims again and turns to the shelf where I have returned his dad’s new gift.
He stretches on tiptoe, his book in his outstretched arms. Straining to reach as high as possible, he inches his Bible on top of his dad’s, until it rests there, securely.
“Micah’s Bible,” he says a third time.
I smile. I know that at age three, he doesn’t know much about faith. He doesn’t even know that much about Jesus, although he loves the stories. He has no concept of religion.
He doesn’t see the significance that I do of his favorite book resting on the foundation of his dad’s faith. I know one day he will make his own choices about God and what he believes, but for now, he is standing on tiptoe, placing what he values on top of something his dad loves.
For now, that is the perfect place for it to be.
Stuff:
I was published yesterday on a national blog for MOPS. The topic is on body image and bra shopping after having breast cancer. Feel free to share the link on your social media sites. It makes publishers, search engines and me happy!
No posts next week as I am working on my blog, transferring it to a new website. I hope to launch the changes on Monday, September 22 with a three-part series on courage.
I will be sharing stories from two friends – one, a three-time cancer survivor and 2014 Hero of Hope with the American Cancer Society and the other, a friend who ministers to those who have cancer in Mozambique, a country with only two oncologists.
If, as a regular reader, you notice any glitches on the new site, please let me know. If you are an email subscriber, the emails should automatically switch over. If the emails stop, please send me a message!Also, if you are a regular reader, I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I leave for the weekend to bury the ashes of my mom in Solon Springs, Wisconsin, my dad's family home.