I’ve been wishing to tell you about one of the most wonderful days of my entire life. I sat, with a baby on my lap, for about 9 and a half hours straight (a few weeks ago). Her mama, who is also one of my favorite people, is a stay-at-home mom, but she had a little bit of side work cleaning empty apartments, so she pumped some milk and dropped her sweet little thing off to hang out with Meemaw for the day. I didn’t lay her down (except to change her diapers) for the entire time. You can say I am spoiling her, but I think it was me who was spoiled.
Here are some pictures, so you can enjoy her cuteness, as well…
She is the cutest, sweetest person I have ever met (for the record, I can say that today because my other grandkid has yet to be born, though she was due yesterday!).
But it wasn’t just the time with her. It was also what she exemplified for me. I have rarely felt so content in life, but the lingering effects have made me more content ever since that day. Laura was happy just to stare at the trees and listen to bird songs all day long. She was content to snuggle up in my arms. She taught me about abiding. She wasn’t preoccupied with the messy house or the need to get anything accomplished. She was simply happy to exist in my arms.
I want desperately to live in the posture of my granddaughter. She invoked in me a deep sense of contentment. Of happiness in the still sweetness of simply being. I wasn’t so preoccupied with my duties, either. For hours, I read to her (Romans 8, The Giving Tree, Momo) and listened to bird songs with her. I read while she slept peacefully across my lap. I stared at her fresh skin and kissable cheeks, and thought “This is how I ought always to be with God!”
Ever since that day of doing absolutely nothing but holding a sweet baby who I cherish, her and I have been much closer friends. Before that day, when I would hold her, sometimes she was content, but sometimes she immediately knew I was not her mama or daddy, and wanted placed back into the arms that felt safest. Ever since, she is happy to let me hold her and even rock her to sleep. There is something about connection that leads us to contentedness. About trust that leads us to peace. Laura knew she was cherished and cared for, thus she knew I was trustworthy.
It has taken decades to learn the art of stillness for me. Of abiding. As my mother would tell you, I ran before I could walk. Yet, my favorite place to be has become my back porch swing, with a Bible laying open-faced in front of me, serenaded by the sounds of birds and crickets. Because this is my place of abiding. Of resting in the arms of Jesus who cherishes me and holds me in safety and security.
The more time I spend simply enjoying the feel of His embrace (whether it comes in the form of a gentle breeze or of a sweet chunk of joy nuzzled up in my lap), the more I grow into the kind of contented person I want to be. Like sweet, little Laura. I learn to rest, and stop fussing. This is the attitude of the abiding. And when we abide in Him we are promised to bear fruit. Not the kind of fruit we attempt to create ourselves by striving and hustling, but the lasting fruit of Almighty God, who simply invites us to crawl up in His lap and live there.
And this, my friends, is why Laura has become one of my greatest mentors in her few short months of breathing oxygen. I hope I will always keep the lessons she teaches me close to my heart. And I hope I will always rest in the arms of Jesus like my precious granddaughter resting in my arms. Because I know that He loves me even more than I love her! And He is far more trustworthy than I could ever hope to be.
Space 6/14/23
P.S. Pray for that other grandbaby who is just about to make her passage into the world! And pray for her mama, as well. Birthing can be a bit of a bear… but oh, so worth it!
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