Adventures in Babysitting

 

One way I have raised money for Cambodia is through babysitting. I am lucky to have many friends who have kids (this tends to happen when most of your friends are married), so I stay busy with it. I love it and always have tons of fun with the kids; hopefully they enjoy it as well. It has been particularly interesting watching one brother and sister duo grow and learn together. I have learned a lot from them. I will call them Maggie and Jake here, Maggie is just over 4 years old and Jake is 15ish months.

The last time I babysat Maggie and Jake, I was there for 5 ish hours and had the task of putting them both to bed. This was the longest I think I had even stayed over there and it was an interesting night. We ate kid’s meals from Wendy’s, did the activity from the kid’s meal, played outside, played inside, watched part of Up, and ended the night with Mary Poppins – it seemed way more eventful in my head.

While interacting with the kids, I was reminded of similarities with our relationship with Christ. Maggie was everywhere, all the time, testing my limits, encouraging her brother in good and sometimes bad behavior, and being a ‘big’ kid who would conquer the world on her own. She had the confidence to climb up and over things and step off the step (or jump off the bed – sorry parents!) without help. When it was time for Maggie to go to bed and she was more tired, she leaned on me completely, not wanting to leave my side while we watched the movie. It took  time, and near exhaustion for her to ‘need’ me again.

However, Jake is the one who really had me contemplating life. Jake was much more cautious unless he was holding my hand or I was close by. When Jake had his sister or I close by, he was everywhere, all the time; but when he was not near us, he was cautious about taking the step down or climbing onto things. While he can be a little daredevil, there are times where he does not yet have the confidence in himself to go off the step.

Through these examples, I was able to see myself at different parts of my relationship with Christ, sometimes the changes that happen throughout the day or even the hour. I would love to be like Jake, holding His hand and making big leaps with COMPLETE confidence I would be ok. More often, I am like Maggie, testing boundaries to see if He is still there and watching. I go and go and go until I am completely exhausted and literally cannot do it on my own, that is when I turn to God.

I tend to see how far I can go without Him, trying to do it all on my own. And even though He is constantly right next to me, I look past Him, trying to find ways to be independent, because “I can take care of myself.” This reflection has called a lot to my attention, and I am working on dependence in Him for everything I need.

 

“Jesus called a little child to him. He stood the child before the followers. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth. You must change and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.” Matthew 18:2-4 ICB