Labels: devotions, letting go, parenting
"Help me Mommmmmy! I'm twapped!"
I heard the little panicked cry from the living- room. To be entirely honest- I didn't exactly run from the bathroom to his rescue.
Like the little boy who cried wolf, we've been here before- not all Noah crisis' are real. Most are imagined. (Like standing in the pantry screaming to be rescued when all he has to do is push the door open.) I learned a long time ago not to freak.
I finished my lip-liner and gloss before I went on my rescue mission.
OOPS. This time it was true. I found him lying in front of the armoire that holds the TV in the livingroom. His left arm -up to just above the elbow- was mostly out of view. It was pinned under the armoire.
The armoire is a pretty typical 7 feet tall and thousand pounds of oak, particle board and media equipment with flashing clocks. If you toss in an additional 10 pounds of accumulated dust - (somebody really SHOULD clean that) you've got the picture.
I tried to pull it out. No go. He screamed.
I tried the "wiggle method." Nada.
I thought about butter- then, thought about the beige carpet. "Not that desperate, yet." I thought.
I pulled again- He screamed. Again. Louder.
"Stop screaming- I can't think" I yelled. (volume helps? right? ) I was starting to freak- just a little.
I thought about all those news stories I've heard- about parents suddenly being able to lift cars off of their pinned children. I tried to move the armoire. Nothing. (it was worth a shot.) Incredible Hulk Mom- I am not.
The thought of having to call the fire department to free my child from the monster armoire was not appealing. I looked at my watch- (the flashing clocks are useless) I wondered if I could keep him busy playing one handed gameboy until my teenagers came. They are pretty strong- I was convinced the three of us could lift it.
"What were you doing?" I asked him. More to kill time, than to get an answer. "I had to get my TOY!" My mind instantly went to all the stories about monkeys with their hands in coconuts "Are you still HOLDING it?" I asked.
"I have to get it" He said. Sheesh. A classic. I live in a monkey house. No doubt about it.
It took some convincing- and the locating of an implement to prove that I would fish the toy out as soon as his ARM and BODY were out of the way.
He finally relaxed his grip- we bent his elbow and he was free. Just a few red marks and that faded pretty quick. No permanent damage or butter messes. What a relief.
"I love you mommy, thanks for rescuing me" He said.
I had to laugh. I didn't exactly "rescue" him..... he just let go of the toy.
Funny- I'm pretty sure that from God's perspective I've had my arm stuck for a while- too. Holding onto something, refusing to let it go and but not able to hold on and make it work.
I wonder what would happen if I just let it go? Would he be able to rescue the thing I love? Would He fish it out and hand it to me?
It just might be worth a try.Matthew 16:24-25
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."
"Dear Jesus- help me not be stubborn- trying to rescue myself or hold onto and grab for things on my own that you want to freely give me- I love you Lord- please help me to stop bein a Monkey mom- amen. Oh- and thnx for helping me figure out how to free the boy....the butter would have been a bad idea."
