Glimpses from a back row

A few weeks ago I encountered a new image of God. I was sitting in the back of the New Year's Eve service at the Sankor Baptist Church in Ghana. There was a toddler who refused to sit in his mother's lap and listen to the message. Before long, his faint quivers turned into a full-blown tantrum. But, by this time he was several aisles away from his mother.

I was obesrving this whole scene unfold from a distance. Sitting behind the mother was the 78 year-old matriarch of the church. Mary Temple had been watching too. She was within a short distance of this crying child. In the middle of the service, she gracefully rose from her seat, and hobbled across to the toddler. She unwrapped her vibrant African fabric from her waist and wrapped the child tightly. She picked him up, calmed him down and held him in a lump of fabric to her chest for the remainder of the service.

How many times have we been the fussy toddler? We find ourselves stressed, dissatisfied,and irritable; throwing a Holy tantrum for all to see. (Or perhaps one that only we can see.) But, with a close and gentle spirit, God swiftly picks us up, calms us down and mothers us until we are satisfied once again.

Anyone need to be picked up and satisfied today?

"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you;" Isaiah 66:13

Mothering God, quiet our souls today. Amen

L and Sparkfly