Monday, March 24, 2014

8+8

"Daddy, 2+2 is 4!" ... "That's right, what about 4+4" ... "Ummm, (counting) 8!?" ... "Yep, 8, so how about 8+8?" ... *silence*... "I don't have enough hands!" ... "Yeah, but I think you can still get it, whats 8+8?" ... "8+8 is 16!"

This was the conversation with my soon-to-be 4 year old on the way home from church yesterday. Talking to her while driving is one of my favorite things. I love listening to her mind work, and her discovering new answers to questions, not to mention her musings on life. She is a very smart little lady, and has managed to learn some basic addition (and even a small touch of subtraction), she can count to 10 in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language, and she is rapidly picking up literacy skills. We, as parents, feel insanely blessed to have her and her brother. He just turned 2 and is equally amazing. Perhaps my favorite thing about watching them learn is that we have made much effort to not push or persuade them into learning something. We try to ensure that we simply give ample opportunity to learn any number of things, making ourselves available and encouraging them in whatever it is they choose. We love to see their interests in different things build. We provide them with the tools they need, and offer help whenever they need it, and the end result seems to be an organic love of learning and a willingness to try new things.

I don't say any of that to make it seem that we have found the hidden secret to successful child-rearing, simply that we have found something that works for our kids. The real moral of this story has to do with a little girl who momentarily felt that she didn't have what she needed in order to complete a task.

Upon running out of fingers to count out 8+8, there was a moment of doubt at her ability to correctly answer the question. In that moment, she had forgotten something that she knows very well... 8+8 is 16. We do this so often with God. We have a problem laid out in front of us, and we count the tangible resources we have... deciding that we are unable to do what has been asked of us. If only we had been gifted more of "x", we would be able to solve "y". We give up, we choose to leave the task undone. Sometimes all we need is a reminder from our Father that we don't need more of "x", the solution to "y" is well within our grasp. For my little lady, its because she has spent time with her parents, practicing addition, and she just knows (and stores the knowledge in her mind) that 8+8 is 16. For our situations in life, seeking God's will in a problem, or His direction for a decision, we can trust that (if) we have hidden God's word in our heart (as we are called to do), that we can draw upon that stored knowledge and trust that we have the solution we seek.

Hint: the ultimate answer to whether or not you should do something, change this direction of your life, or whatever is rooted in the knowledge that the chief end of man is to glorify God. So, whatever it is that you are doing, or whatever change you are choosing to make... can it be done to the glory of God? If so, then go for it... if not, don't! If you have to alter definitions of what it means to glorify God, then chances are that you won't be...