I Got You

My 2-year old goddaughter is afraid of the vacuum. She is pretty much afraid of anything that makes loud noises. Not unusual for children that age. All my children were afraid of the vacuum at that age. My husband and I try to make sure it’s hidden when she visits. But if we forget, she lets us know as soon she arrives at our house.

One day after dinner, we discovered that we needed to use the vacuum on the rice grains that fell from the table. My goddaughter was warned that the vacuum was coming out. She promptly began to run and hide. My husband scooped her up in his lap until the vacuuming was done, telling her, “I got you.”

It was an interesting picture. My husband is very muscular with broad shoulders. My goddaughter is small for her age since she was born premature. Big man protecting a little girl. My goddaughter sat in my husband’s lap, watching the vacuum, calm and without shedding one tear. As I watched this scene, I was struck by how much my goddaughter’s attitude towards her fear changed. On the floor with the vacuum, she was terrified. But in her godfather’s lap, she wasn’t.

This brought to mind how Christians relate to God. Oh, to climb into God’s presence and calmly and peacefully watch the things that once terrified us. God is big, strong and is willing to hold us when we’re afraid. The scene with my goddaughter just reminded me that my Abba Daddy is will scoop me up when I’m afraid, no matter how irrational my fear my be. I’m thankful for the reminder that I don’t have to be afraid. I just need to climb in my Father’s lap and hear him say, “I got you.”