Jan
31
2023
Those Little Scary Moments
Posted in Faith 2 Comments
We have had two of our granddaughters here for a long weekend.
It has been delightfully busy.
It has been so enjoyable to read books, play together, and sing songs.
They are wonderful activities for a 3 1/2 year old and an 8 month old.
Television is not a go-to activity.
However, it is delightful to sit together and watch something short and sweet.
The other day, my granddaughter asked if she could watch Winnie the Pooh.
Since we do not have the channel that has all those movies, renting it was in order.
I actually have the movie, which my children watched when they were little.
I have a VHS copy, which cannot be played any longer, since our VCR is long gone.
Renting the movie was easy.
My little granddaughter was so excited to watch it.
Usually, whatever she watches is only about thirty minutes.
This movie was an hour.
Watching this movie was a special treat.
It was so wonderful to see the story and the characters through her little eyes.
I had forgotten one little thing: Heffalumps and Woozles.
Tigger came up with his name for Elephants and Weasels.
Tigger said that Heffalumps and Woozles love honey and want to steal it.
Winnie the Pooh a bad dream because he was worried about his honey.
It didn’t matter that the make believe creatures were drawn as cartoons.
It didn’t matter that a song explained them.
It didn’t matter that the characters movements were choreographed.
It was still disconcerting for this little one.
I had forgotten.
I am very careful about what goes into the mind of a child.
It matters what they see and what they hear.
I want their dreams to be sweet.
I want their thoughts to be joy filled.
If my granddaughter sees anything that is even a bit scary, she reacts the same way.
If I am sitting in my comfy chair, she will leave her spot on the floor and come over to me.
She won’t cry.
She just gets as close as she can; she wants to be near the one who can protect her.
Often she will climb on my lap and cuddle.
Do you want Grandma to turn this off? I will ask her.
Sometimes the answer is, yes.
More often than not, the answer is, no.
Just being near me is enough.
We want God to solve our problems.
We want God to take away the hard things we experience in our life.
We want God to fix IT, whatever, it is.
Is that really what we want, down deep?
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. (Psalm 46)
The psalmist understood what my granddaughter seems to know.
Presence is needed.
Not just any presence, rather presence of the One who can truly help.
An ever-present help in times of trouble.
My granddaughter needs to be near me in those scary moments.
Even Heffalumps and Woozles can be disconcerting to a little one.
Praise God that I am here.
At bedtime, we always list all the people in our family who love her, which is everyone.
We don’t stop there.
The Presence she needs with her as she falls asleep, is the God who made her.
God is near.
We long for His Presence, since things can be so hard and scary here.
My little granddaughter knows.
She is not ashamed to come near to Grandma when Heffalumps and Woozles are seen.
She knows that I will protect her.
There is One who is ever near, and ever able, so she need not fear.
Selah.
I can relate, Gina, as a Mimi, when we have our littles over and discourage TV as much as possible except as a special treat of an occasional movie now and then. We, too, have the old Disney vhs’s our kids grew up on and have a combo VCR/DVD player that can still play those vhs’s (the updated dvds better quality tho). FYI- Focus On Fam continues to offer their older MaGee & Me and Last Chance Detectives series on dvd- our older littles especially enjoy those when they visit while Poppop and I make breakfast, ha!
Sounds, perfect, Carolyn. Such special times and memories you are making. It is a blessing and a privilege.
Gina