Apr
23
2024
From A Child’s Eye View
Posted in Faith 2 Comments
Mothers often complain about the placement of items in a grocery store.
Things are placed quite strategically on the shelves.
That strategic placement is done with children in mind.
To our grown up height, this is rarely a problem.
Often the sugary cereals are placed much lower right in view of the children.
Candy, near the check out, has a prominent place for those who are much smaller than us.
It is a marketing strategy that is down to a science.
In order to combat that trend, a mother has to stand firm and get the healthier options.
I saw this in action at a local county park.
It had nothing to do with candy or sugary cereals but it had everything to do with perspective.
Perspective from a child’s eye view.
Perspective that we never consider as adults.
It was my husband’s idea to take two of our granddaughters to the county park.
This park is not a playground, rather this park is a working farm.
There are animals to visit and a barn to walk through.
The views and surrounding scenery are so lovely.
It was a bit chilly that day.
We put on their jackets and donned ours as well.
We drove the few miles to the farm.
The excitement was palpable.
As soon as we parked the car, we walked towards the sheep.
There were baby lambs in the pen.
We counted five of them.
We watched the mother shew her baby away who was trying to nurse.
Our granddaughters were talking so sweetly to the little lambs.
The baby lambs came over to the post and rail fence.
They were close enough that we could reach our hands through to stroke them.
The littlest one, who is almost two-years-old, was a bit timid despite me being next to her.
We visited the goats climb stairs that were built for them.
We watched them butt heads and guessed which goat would be the one to move aside.
No feeding of the animals is allowed.
It was wonderful to watch them interact and play with each other.
We saw donkeys.
We heard the almost five-year-old make the different animal sounds.
We met a barn cat named, Scrunchy, who won over the hearts of everyone quite easily.
We did not see the resident peacock or the pigs that were to arrive next week.
It was almost lunch time so we decided to go home.
We had to walk past the sheep which we visited first when we arrived.
Bye, baby sheep, the little one said as she waved.
My husband and I looked at each other over their heads and smiled.
Then, out of nowhere, the mother sheep came towards us.
She was simply walking in our direction.
The fence was between us; I was not concerned.
I failed to consider this scene from my granddaughter’s perspective.
The mother sheep had her face in between the bottom two rungs of the post and rail fence.
BAAAH! BAAAH! BAAAH!
The sound was indeed quite loud.
From our little granddaughter’s perspective, it was terrifying.
She cried so hard and was so very scared.
Other mothers saw what had happened and understood.
All this little one saw was the large head of the mother sheep with mouth wide open.
All this little one heard was the extremely loud, BAAAH!
My husband whisked her up into his arms as she continued to cry.
We soothed her and agreed that the mommy sheep was very loud.
We told her that the mommy sheep was just protecting her babies.
We had no idea if the explanation was understood.
Being enveloped in her Pop-Pop’s strong arms helped as we walked away from the fence.
Trusting that Pop-Pop was there to protect her mattered.
Seeing her sister there as well, who was talking but not crying, assured her.
We talked about a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as we drove home.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
How many times are we whisked into the Father’s arms?
God the Father knows that from our perspective, things can be quite scary.
We are frightened when the enemy roars.
We are afraid when evil is just too close.
But God.
He holds us fast.
He dries our tears.
He speaks His Word to us.
We are safe.
Yes, we are “safe and secure from all alarms” with a God Who abides with us – we are so blessed!
Amen, Sue!