The Blessedness of Being Little

(Jeb December 2010)


The title above is a quote by William Shakespeare. I have a wooden sign that was hanging in Isabelle's nursery when she was a baby with that quote on it.

This afternoon, Jeb woke up from his nap a little too soon. (There was a certain smell coming from his room which I won't describe.) So, I changed his diaper, and could tell he was still tired, so we just cuddled in the chair downstairs until he fell back asleep. I thought about putting him back to bed, so I could work on all the housework I am behind on, but decided not too, because, hey, you never know when will be the last time your baby boy decides to fall asleep on your chest, so I opted to just ignore the housework and sit there and enjoy him. We have had so much going since he was born that I feel like I haven't had as many quiet moments like this with him as I would've liked.

So I sat there, in the still and quiet, and prayed for my child, but mostly just stared at him and admired God's handiwork. I wanted to soak in every single detail of how he looked at that moment. The little red swirl of hair on top of his head, his long eyelashes, the shape of his nose (and the crustiness around the edges of it), the way his mouth was closed just a tiny bit crooked and the sticky mess that was still on his chin from lunch. I felt the rhythm of his breathing against me and just sighed a deep sigh and thought I could just stay there forever.

Then I had an epiphany. Even though I feel that no one could ever love both my children more than I do, I realized that God loves them more. HE knows exactly how many of those cute curly red hairs there are on their heads, how many eyelashes they have, and the rhythm of their heartbeats. He made all of them! But more importantly than that, He knows what their talents, strengths, fears and weaknesses will be, what will be their greatest temptations in life, and what will be their greatest accomplishments. He knows it all and is shaping their lives and hearts to be what He wants them to be. That is such a comforting thought to me! My constant prayer is that God will shape me to look more and more like Christ each day, so that, my children can "imitate me as I imitate Christ." But, no matter what I do, or how imperfect I am as a mother or Christian, God IS perfect, and He is in control!

"For You formed my inward parts;You covered me in my mother’s womb." (Psalm 139:13)

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight! Jesus loves the little children of the world!"

And that, to me, is the blessedness of being little.