Things 2020 taught me
by Amber and Sarah Sumners
Isaiah 54:13
All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your children.
Things 2020 taught me:
- Don’t underestimate the power of well-intentioned women.
- Wear your darn mask!
- Always, always, always pay attention and listen to your child. They are wise, they are resilient and they have tools you need.
Jack has always been especially fond of saying/singing the blessing when we sit to eat dinner each evening. When he was younger, we started off with a lively rendition of, “Oh the Lords been good to me,” accompanied with lots of celebration and praise, mommy and mama tears, and high-fives all around. IT. WAS. AN. EVENT and there are videos!
Lately, he’s transitioned away from singing our blessing towards making up his own words to a spoken blessing, much to our delight as parents. It usually goes something like this, “Dear God for the food, for mama and mommy, for my legos …” and it ends somewhere around “for my little dog” or “my family.”
It’s always sweet and smile-worthy and usually gets him a couple smiles and kisses from everyone at the table; but he always leaves out “thank you.” No one ever questions or corrects; pray your way dude! But I’m curious, so I ask him why he prays the way he does. He is confused, so I give him an example highlighting that he has left out the words “thank you” and he replies by saying “Mommy, I don’t need to say that. God knows.”
And with that one sentence my 5-year-old blows my mind! He gets it. His faith astounds me daily and I’m not even certain what he understands about God. But he has such faith that whatever or whomever he’s praying to knows, and knows big time.
During this difficult time of quarantine, we have all spent a great deal of time together and our nerves as parents are thin and fragile and in need of such tenderness. Through it all, I’ve mourned the loss of our roles as Sunday school teachers, I’ve worried endlessly about our absence from church and how it has affected our little ones. I’ve worried Jack’s faith has grown weak, but all along the Lord has been working through him and us in ways beyond our knowledge. He has continued to lead and guide my weak faith and I only need to listen to Jack and to trust that “God knows.” Plain and simple.
Prayer: Heavenly being, teach us each day to trust in you and to see you in every child that we encounter. Open our hearts to learn from them and give us patience to do so. Amen.