My favorite children’s book is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. As the story goes, if you give a mouse a cookie, he will ask for a glass of milk. The playful mouse antics continue on and on. Recently, I discovered what happens if you give a boy a stick.
In the backyard I played tug-o-war with weeds while the kid’s picked up sticks. We all know what happens if you give a boy a stick, he will find a reason to fight. While I battled the English ivy, I looked up to see Andrew raise a four-foot stick high into the air and exclaim “The Lord is with me!” In our yard King Saul (Andrew) and David (Rachel) battled the Philistines. I laughed; the recent episode of the Bible mini-series had an obvious impact on our children.
Worn out, I poured a glass of iced sweet tea and took a break on the screen porch. My hair clung to my sweaty neck and crimson face. Saul and David follow after me and we sat under the breeze of the whirling ceiling fans. Andrew asked if I would like some water. “Absolutely”, I reply. He opened the water bottle and ceremoniously states “I anoint you!” I laugh and ask, “What am I being anointed?” (Thinking to myself I will be anointed “queen of the weeds.”) He raised the same stick he had been battling the imaginary army and proclaimed, “I anoint you Beautiful Mother.”
Photos courtesy of Unplash at Pixabay.com
Tears pricked at my eyes. I wanted to scoff. I had to bite my lip to hold back the flood of emotion going on inside my heart. I had just been anointed Beautiful Mother.
If Andrew was to hold up a mirror before me, I would argue with my anointed title. To be honest, if he held a mirror to my heart, I would continue to disagree with that title. This child knows who I really am. He knows that I love the Lord, but I am short-tempered, impatient, and prone to perfectionism. Yet, he still anointed me Beautiful Mother!
“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
(Proverbs 31:28-30)
If you give a boy a stick he will anoint you “Beautiful Mother.” When he anoints you “Beautiful Mother” you will be reminded to see yourself the way God sees you.
~April
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