As you think of it, please pray for Ansa. As you think of Lucia, please pray for her. Come to think of it, as you think of me, please pray for me as I lead my wife as she leads our daughter through the varied issues of daily mother/daughter relational interaction. Pray that God would give my wife grace, courage and wisdom to model Christ and that our two-year old will have a more humble and responsive attitude as it pertains to acting like Jesus. Our desire is for Ansa to be more reflective of Christ as it functionally works out in our home and our world.
Ansa is in that place that every kid gets to. She is moving from simplicity to complexity. She does not understand why things are becoming so complex. She also does not understand that on the other side of this imminent complexity is another kind of simplicity.
Ansa’s Simplicity
In the beginning it was all so simple. She ate. She slept. She pooped in her diaper. It was still good for her even when she learned to roll over. Crawling was a pleasant experience for her as well. Walking brought fear and trepidation, but she did it with joy. In addition, she began to feed herself and we decided there was no need for a crib, so she went from baby cradle to bed. She sleeps with Haydn. This was huge for her and it opened up new vistas. Life was good! She was doing much better than she deserved.
Ansa’s Complexity
Once she began to walk, feed herself and sleep in that huge bed she began to have feelings of omnipotence. And in came complexity, every parent’s challenge. We spend the early part of a child’s life “communicating” to her that she is not omnipotent, there is a God, you are not self-sufficient and these good gifts of walking, talking, independent sleeping, feeding yourself were never meant exclusively for your personal desires and profit. Ansa was moving in fast-forward mode toward omnipotence. Rick and Lucia are slowing her down, hence her complexity.
Why are my parents slowing me down? I don’t like that!! And that is the intersection in which we stand.
Other-centeredness, respect, honoring, deferring, discretion, humility and preferring are antagonistic to the depraved soul. To change seems too complex (Read: complexity) to attempt. It seems easier (Read: simplicity) to cater to self.
Ansa’s Simplicity
Most assuredly there is a Simplicity on the other side of Complexity. Ansa does not know this. Ansa does not believe this. Shucks, I’m still learning this. God’s way seems hard and cuts against the grain of my selfish heart, but I do know and have had limited experience in living in that big, wide space of God’s freeing grace and love when I do things his way. It’s called living in the good of the Gospel. And that is hard. It’s complex. But the simplicity on the other side of complexity is far superior to the self-serving, self-absorbing simplicity prior to complexity.
Ansa is not convinced. We need to convince her. It’s called parenting. As you think of it, please pray for us, that we would be a major encouragement to her as we lead her by example into and out of complexity. And as she repents of her selfish stubbornness, may she begin to interact with the grace of God and become a believer in the uncomplicated simplicity that is found in living in the good of His Gospel.
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Elizabeth Fisher said, Will do! I think Christians owe it to their brethren (and beyond) to love them by praying for wisdom in raising their children and that their children would be converted.