I'm sitting at a coffee shop this morning, and the CUTEST baby girl and her mom sat down at the table in front of me. This baby is the kind of cute where strangers all but had to stop to say hi to her. The mom is enjoying a latte, and her baby—probably about a year and a half old—is enjoying a bagel and cream cheese. And baby girl is hanging on to that bagel like a PRO. She’s basically a certified New Yorker. It’s obvious that this little tot is Miss Independent, and I am here for it. Her mom is incredibly calm and talks to her daughter like they have been best friends for years. It’s admirable the way she lets her child do her thang, and it’s impressive how well-mannered the baby is. She actually looked at another baby in the coffee shop who was crying and told her mom she thought the crying baby was, “funny.” This child would N E V E R cry in public—no way.
Every once in a while, I noticed the mom would hold her hand below the table to catch the bagel if it happened to fall out of the baby’s hand. It was almost like she didn’t want the baby to see that she was safeguarding her food—like she wanted her to know that she’s got this.
I couldn't help but cry watching this interaction—y'all know me—because it reminded me of how God parents us. God wants us to be independent, confident, steady, and comfortable like that little girl hanging out in the coffee shop. He wants us to laugh at trouble like she laughed at the baby who started crying. He wants us to be stress-free and chomp on a bagel with cream cheese without a care in the world. And he certainly wants to talk with us like we're his best friend.
Here's some scripture to back that up:
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
I don't know about y'all, but I get so frustrated when I'm going through something tough and God doesn't throw a big neon sign in my face to tell me what's next or what to do. But maybe God isn't a helicopter parent. What if—and stay with me here—God wants us to walk this Earth so confidently and with such determination that he's training us to trust that he will be there to support us no matter the decision we make or trouble we endure...even if he isn't flashing warning signs in our face? What if God has his hand right below the table where we can't see just in case we drop the bagel because he wants us to live life like we "got this"?
Just something to chew on.
By the way, the little girl did drop her bagel. Actually, she dropped both halves of the bagel. And the mom patiently picked it up, threw it in the trash, and asked if she was still hungry. No harm, no foul. God has done that for me more times than I care to admit.
Something else to chew on.
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