A Fun Filled Morning

I got notice of the event.
I immediately sent my daughter a text.
I thought this would be something fun to do together.
I knew my granddaughter would love it.

My daughter checked her schedule.
The day worked for her.
I bought the tickets.
We both put it on our calendars.

The event was called, Slugs and Bugs LIVE.
Slugs and Bugs began out of the imagination of Randall Goodgame.
Randall is a singer-songwriter of contemporary Christian music.
He has eight solo albums of his own and helped write songs for many others.

Randall wrote songs for Caedman’s Call, Jason Gray, Jill Philips, and Eric Peters.
He is best known for writing songs for Veggie Tales.
My children grew up watching and listening to Veggie Tales.
The Silly Songs were their favorites; many of which were written by Randall.

The day came.
We drove to my favorite place of Amish buggies.
There were so many families walking from the parking lot to the venue.
My little granddaughter walked quickly and excitedly.

We had seats in the fourth row right in the middle.
The music and live animation began.
My granddaughter was mesmerized.
All of the music is interactive, requiring a lot of audience participation.

Even at sixteen months, she was totally engaged.
She clapped and danced.
She seemed to loved the man with the bow tie and the red sneakers.
She loved when he picked up his guitar, mandolin, and ukulele.

I was watching my daughter watch her daughter.
We were both  enthralled by the response of our daughter.
My little granddaughter stood on her tiptoes at times just so she would not miss a thing.
There were so many children, all engaged in Randall’s music.

The show was an hour long.
After about forty minutes, my daughter walked the aisle to the back of the auditorium.
There was a little tap on my back as my granddaughter would see me in my seat.
My granddaughter was interested in the sparkly shoes of the little girl sitting next to me.

When I was younger, my aunt had written a sentence on a piece of paper.
I remember her handing the paper to the adults in the room and to me, too.
She asked us all to read it.
Every adult read it wrong; only the new reader (ME!) read it correctly.

Adults tend to read words in clusters.
New readers read each word deliberately.
The sentence was simple: Paris in the the spring.
Every adult read, Paris in the spring; I read every word and saw that, the, was written twice.

Something similar happened in the show.
In one song, Randall lamented that he lost his bunny.
The song was silly and the children were laughing.
A woman walked up on stage during the song.

My granddaughter pointed and said, bunny.
My daughter and I would never have seen it had we not seen it through her eyes.
Tucked away and behind her, the woman was concealing the bunny.
At a point in the song, the bunny would be revealed.

I would never have seen it.
I was taking it all in; the entire picture of the stage was before me.
My granddaughter was seeing the parts and was not missing anything along the way.
My daughter leaned over to me and remarked, She saw that, Mom!

At the end of the show, the children can come up on stage for the last song.
Many did; some did not.
My daughter and granddaughter were down in front on the floor near the stage.
As I was watching them, I saw a little boy toddle over to Randall.

This man, in the bow tie and red sneakers, was so approachable.
The little boy walked up to Randall with no hesitation.
Randall was still singing into his headset and dancing all over the place.
From the floor, he was directing the children on stage.

He felt this little hand on his leg.
He looked down and the little boy raised his arms.
He wanted Randall to pick him up.
Randall picked him up so gently and sweetly.

I could see that the toddler’s mother was nearby.
Randall allowed the music to keep playing while he held this little boy.
Being a father himself, it is obvious that Randall loves children.
He respects them and has devoted his life to teaching Scripture through song.

This moment was so sweet.
A child, with raised arms, cannot be ignored.
This man, who loves God and His Word, cannot ignore this little child.
Even if it meant his show was put on hold, the child came first.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:14-17)

We have that kind of access to God through Jesus.
After Jesus rose from the dead, He made it possible for us to call God, Father.
I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. (John 20:17)
The Holy Spirit, living in us who believe, enables us to call God the Father, Abba. (Daddy)

I imagine Abba, Father, stopping everything He is doing to attend to one of His children.
I imagine Abba, Father, picking us up and talking to us ever so gently.
I imagine that nothing is more important to Abba, Father than His child.
I imagine His tenderness and gentleness.

Thank you, Randall, for a fun filled morning singing the truth of Scripture.
Thank you, Randall, for loving a child so tenderly that you pointed us to God the Father.
May we do the same.
In our littlest, most insignificant moments, may we do the same.