#FamilyFriday | Trust
I had my camera ready as I following around a little 2-year-old girl as she explored the world around her; ready to capture the moments as she discovered something new and exciting. So carefree and confident as she led her parents around. And then she spotted it - there, on the ground, was a caterpillar. I don't know if she had ever seen one before, but it caught her attention and she just had to touch it. A little scared at the possibility, she looked up at her dad, pointed with her tiny index finger, and then looked back at the caterpillar. Her father, knowing his daughter very well, bent down to pick the fuzzy bug up in his hand. Only then did little Anna dare to move closer to the caterpillar.
We all know that caterpillars are harmless. But how do we know? Through experience, or by someone else telling us that they won't hurt us. As I stood there witnessing this moment between father and daughter, I couldn't help but think about my own relationship with the heavenly Father. Anna knew that she was safe with her parents by her side, that she would be taken care of, and they wouldn't let anything harm her. It wasn't until she asked her dad for his help and when the bug was in his hands that she knew she was safe. How is that any different than our own day-to-day life? And why I don't I live as fearlessly and as confidently? Does not my Father love me and want the very best for me? Yes, bad things will come, but not after passing through Him first. So here's to walking confidently. To living fearlessly. With my Father by my side.
I wrote that shortly after we did the Parker Family Session at the end of March. I had no idea that just a few short weeks later, we would be asked to find a different home. Our landlords have had health issues, and need their rental property back for their daughter to be close to them. I knew deep down that we didn't do anything wrong, that they needed our home for a serious reason, but at the end of the day... it still hurt. It felt like we were being kicked out on the street. I knew that God was going to provide a home for us, that He already had it picked out, and we just needed to find it. [And He did, and He had, and we found it!] But at the time, as I struggled with all of this, I finally had a heart-to-heart with God, and He gently kicked me in the butt with the truth that He so graciously had already given me weeks before. Trust. It wasn't that I didn't know that He was going to provide, or that He didn't already have this all in His control, but for some reason I felt that I needed to help Him with worrying about the situation. Silly me.
So Jonathan and I have been studying Leviticus (probably my favorite book of the entire Bible) and one of the commentaries I was reading gave an incredible description of the Throne Room of Heaven. Boy, suddenly I felt smaller than the smallest ant. He filled me with this beautiful picture of how huge He is. He says that He gives the sparrows a home, so don't worry about tomorrow. Today, He has given us a roof over our heads. For whatever reason, this is happening for His glory! My worrying was not honoring Him in any way, shape, or form. So I let go! I gave it to Him. I began to trust. And guess what, He provided! He provided a home for us to move into next month, and it is beyond anything we could have asked for or dreamed of. How good is He?!
The beautiful cherry on top: This past weekend, we had a family session with a gorgeous little (almost) 1-year-old. And as we were walking to the location for our shoot, her daddy bent down. He had found a snail and wanted his daughter Molly to see it, to discover the beautiful creation around her. And she completely and perfectly trusted her daddy. (...And mommy swept in at the last minute to rescue the snail from a squishy, slobbery death).
So this post is a little different than usual, but I want us to look at our lives and consider what we need to be trusting God with that we aren't at the moment. Our family and those around us need to see us holding onto His promises! And what better way than to live it out ourselves? Thank you little girls, and their daddies, for being the vessels that the Lord used to speak to me these past few weeks!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
*There were no caterpillars or snails harmed in the making of this blog.