This is one of those posts where I wish I had taken a
picture. A picture of my 2 year-old
daughter dressed in pink Mary Jane shoes, lime green polka-dot socks, a purple floral
skirt with a yellow cloth diaper underneath, and a hot pink shirt adorned with
a gray bunny. Next came her army green coat, her brother’s too big blue mittens
and her too small purple fleece hat. All dressed and ready to go to a family
dinner.
For those of you who are “Js” on the Myers-Briggs, you might
be able to sympathize. I love things that match. My idea of heaven is a gift
card designated for all the overpriced organizers donning the shelves at Target
(I confess: I did give in on a basket on clearance just last week). So match
this love of matching with my daughter’s new fashion sense and stubborn streak and
you have quite a challenge.
I know… I can hear the parents of teenagers saying it now…
just you wait. Ok. But still, when your
happy-go-lucky toddler makes the switch in a matter of days to throwing food
(and telling me she needs a time out) and refusing to get dressed, it’s quite a
ride.
I’m writing all this, however, not for the drama of the day
but for how it turns out. It had been a long day, time in the car, eating out,
playing with family, all after refusing her nap. But at 10 pm when the purple
jammies finally got zipped up, I laid her down in her crib. She chose the
purple blanket, too, and the baby dolls. Then, all snuggled with a doll under
each arm, she said something that sounded like “pipe the drum.” What? I looked at her, quizzically. She said it
again. And then the light bulb went off in my head.
“Child of God in your baptism.” Drum= the end of
bap-TISM.” These are the words what I
say every night to my children while making the sign of the cross on their foreheads.
But it was later than usual; I was tired and we had groceries to put a way.
Miriam didn’t let me forget. This was a child speaking words
of grace to me. Yes, she may have pulled every string, the rope fraying on both
ends, but at the end of the day, she is a child of God in her baptism, loved
beyond the love even a mother can give. And matched or not, God holds us in
mercy. Thanks to my youngest for being that “still small voice” of the Spirit this
evening.
