by S.D.
Standing in the kitchen, we watched as Brian held Mia in his arms, trying to balance her like a baseball bat in one hand. Both of her feet fitting perfectly in a single palm, while his other hand stabilized and repositioned her. Unwittingly, Mia grabbed at his neck, afraid to let go, afraid she would fall to the hardwood floor below. She would get close to letting go, then pull herself right back into the safety of her own arms around him. All the while Brian softly repeated, “Trust Daddy, trust Daddy,” over and over again in her ear. I’m not sure if his words even registered past her fear that she would fall, that her Daddy wouldn’t be able to hold her up. He, finally, gently placed her on the ground in front of him.
“She used to do it as a little baby, just lock her legs out and balance,” he said to us or maybe to himself as he looked down at his little girl, less and less little every day now, but still so much his girl. At some point, the fear of falling became more real than the hands holding her. The voice in her head whispering, “This isn’t going to work,” or even more insidiously, “He’s lying he can’t hold me up,”; while her Father’s voice, quietly echoed, “Trust Daddy.”
In a moment, the Lord can meet us. In an instant, He can remind, encourage, admonish, convict us. Tiny, simple, ordinary moments that He unravels to reveal something about Himself that is true or other times, reveal falsehoods we have believed about Him & ourselves.
a Father holds His wobbling daughter, two tiny feet affixed in His palm like He taught her. a balancing act playing out before our eyes, while a daughter of Eve is confronted with lies. “trust Daddy,” the Father whispers to His precious, little daughter, but the floor seems much greater than the arm of her Father. He tried to wrap her in His affections with the words that He said, and adorn her with truth as a crown upon her head. hurriedly she grabbed at His neck, afraid to let go, afraid she would fall to the hard floor below. she loosened her grip to experience a glimpse of His promise, then pulled herself back into the arms of her own solace. finally, her fear enveloped her Father’s petition, deterring His truth and affections ‘til she relied on her own ambition. she thought, “His arms couldn’t possibly keep me from toppling over,” so, she wrapped her arms tightly again around His neck and shoulder. her Father’s gentle pleas continued, but in her ears faded. as the voice of her fear grew louder, unabated. when did the fear become more real than the arms that loved her? God help the daughter that questions the Word of her Father.
The Dixon Family 