Me Do! Daddy Do!

Someone once told me, “I know why God gave you children.  So you would have material for your lessons.”  Oh, how true that is!  I learned so much from my children.  And now God has given me grandchildren.  And I continue to learn.

Years ago (way too many years ago), I was giving our two younger children a bath.  Christa was about four years old.  David was a strong-willed, emphatic little two-year-old.  As I attempted to help David take his shirt off, he insisted that I leave him alone.  “Me do!” he insisted.  (The two-year-old yearning for independence was coming through loud and clear.)  Hearing those words, I remembered a story a pastor friend of mine once told regarding his then two-year-old son.

Each day as my friend would arrive home from work, his young son would excitedly run to the front door to greet his father.  The young child would run as fast as his short little legs would carry him, trying to get to the door before his beloved hero could reach the door.  His goal was to open the door for his father.  Each time, the result was similar.  As he would reach the door, the child would strain on his tippy-toes, reach with all his might, stretch his fingers toward the door handle, and shout, “Me do!”  Yet, each day the result was the same.  The child was simply not tall enough to reach the handle.  Resigning himself to this fact yet again, the young boy would drop his heals to the ground, lower his arms, point to his father and calmly say, “Daddy do!”

Yes, David did need my help that evening as he tried with all his might to pull his shirt over his head.  He tried with everything he had.  Finally, hopelessly tangled in his shirt, head buried beneath the cloth, he turned to me for help.  I heard a muffled, “Daddy do!”

Reflecting on that bathtub adventure from years ago, I realize I’m much like that.  Still today, I recite that “Me do!  Daddy do!” mantra!  With best intentions, I plan, prepare, and get to work as though the success of the day, the project, or the task is dependent upon me . . . and me alone.  It’s as though I say to God, “Me do!”  So often, though, things don’t go as planned.  Frustration sets in.  I become disheartened.  It is then that I turn to God in prayer and say, “Daddy do!” 

Wouldn’t it be easier if I would say “Daddy do” right from the start?

                                                With the Lord begin your task, Jesus will direct it.

                                                For His aid and counsel ask, Jesus will perfect it.

                                                Every morn’ with Jesus rise, and when day is ended,

                                                With the Lord then close your eyes.  Be to Him commended.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”              Proverbs 3:5-6

• What’s on your to-do list today?   Have you taken it to the Lord in prayer?

In Him,

Pastor Tim Lindeman