Oh, Did Little Davie Gets a Booboo?
For the record…no one has ever said that to me.
We are celebrating the birth of grandchild #11 (10 on earth and 1 in heaven). Being around the newest member of our extended family and her older sibling has provided the stimuli launching memories of our early years of marriage. We have been reliving those early memories of parenting 3 children of our own.
I know it would sound kinda’ silly if you heard me speak to adults the way parents and grandparents speak to babies, but it is quite appropriate to talk “baby talk” to babies and other little ones. They don’t mind, and it seems that we can’t help it. Those babies and toddlers need to know the adults in their lives care for them. That care comes out of us as some of the following phrases:
“Oh, does baby need her diaper changed?”
“Oh, are you hungry? Here let me take care of you.”
“Oh, did you fall down and hurt yourself?”
“Oh, did you get a booboo? Let’s get a bandaid(booboo cover) for you.”
You get the idea. Right? Making funny faces, getting excited over a first smile (that may be a result of gas, but we don’t care) are ways we enter their world. We are sure that her/his first word was our title: “Mama” or “Dada”. Jumping to attention when they have a need or even a hint of a need. When we know we can meet a need or make them happy, we are on it.
How old are we when that kind of attention goes away or gets replaced by “do it yourself”, “I’m too busy”, “I will be right there” and then we forget or delay so long they move on? I know they and we grow up and mature to be able to meet our own needs many times, but what happens to the desire to make others happy, to bless others by meeting simple needs and serving them as part of our love for them? Did we stop too early? Do older children, teens, even our parents still have needs we could meet to make them happy?
I am simply saying that Jesus met needs of many kinds. He went out of His way to love the poor, the hungry, to lonely, the sick, the old, the children, the lost, and even misguided leaders. He is kind. He saw needs and met them where appropriate. He didn’t make people super-dependent, but often He lovingly went out of His way to let others know that their life was important to Him by knowing their need and meeting it.
Is there anyone in your life who could use a few simple acts of need-meeting, desire-fulfilling kindness? My guess is that you could approach anyone in your life currently with that kind of love, and they would notice that your kindness reminds them of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. And if they don’t know Him, those actions may be the best way to introduce them to Jesus.
Jesus didn’t treat people as if they were babies, but He did (and does) treat us as needy people desperately in need of His love and provision. We have the blessed privilege and power by the Holy Spirit in us to love others with His love, meet some of their needs, and reveal to them some of the heart of Godl – how He really feels about them.
Let’s tell people about what God has done for us. In Jesus Christ, He meets our needs for keeping this body alive, our soul from being alone through His presence in us as believers, and settles the issue of eternal life by inviting us into His kingdom by grace through faith for a glorious eternity with God.