Observing Children*Finding Treasure

Selling a home and moving can be a daunting experience. Especially if you are moving communities where you don’ t know anyone. This was the case for our family when our daughter Kayla was five and our baby Ethan was not yet three. (The photo is of my kiddos just before this story took place)

This move required several painful challenges. Our buyers had requested that we clean out an old barn foundation behind our shed. We had no idea what was there when we said ‘yes’ since it was largely overgrown by brush and vines. What we discovered was a never-ending task that became a mountain of discarded vehicle parts, box springs, and other unidentifiable hunks of rusty metal on our front yard. Next, we moved into our friends’ basement because our buyers wanted their new home before we found our next one two months later. And then, after finally finding our home in a new town… it was six weeks in…with boxes still piled high, and rooms needing painting, I slipped on ice near our front door while moving our dining room table, and dropped it on my leg. My leg was broken…

Did I mention we moved because of our four year financial struggle in which we had, as my husband often said, “More month than money.”? And. We had no health insurance. Often trouble seems to increase when you feel like you just can’t go another step!

As I lay the entire first week with my leg propped up on the back of the couch. I knew that I would have six more weeks with my plaster-trophy. Gazing at the stacks of unpacked boxes and the walls in need of paint, I thanked the Lord that I would one day get to those jobs. I also found myself thinking of more profound things than which drawer to put the silverware in.

I observed my two happy-go-lucky little ones. They were one-on-each-side, hauling my basket of laundry up the stairs so I could fold it, and they were finding it fun! My heart swelled. And then I contrasted my common adult-reactions to trials and transitions with their child-reactions. How often mine are laden with anxiety or frustration, and here were my children just doing the thing in front of them without concern, without any thought of it being a burden (at least at the ages of two and five!) because they were the kids and we were the parents and that is all they needed to know! And I knew God was speaking to my heart about the freedom from anxiety and care that He wants for His children. He wants peace, joy and thankful hearts for me and for you in every circumstance.

My observation has served me well in the years since. Often (I wish I could say always) when I have been tempted to take on worries and cares in difficult circumstances, the Lord has brought to mind the picture of my little ones hauling my laundry with joy. Remembering this, it shifts my thinking, and I decide to trust instead of worry.

And eighteen years later, I can tell you I have survived every trial, and many with peace and joy when I remember that we are His kids and He is our Daddy and that is all I need to know!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

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