THE LAST WORD HE IS ALWAYS WITH US Miss Willow cried a lot that day, the day I relearned that Jesus is personally very invested in my mothering. I didn’t cry. Not because I didn’t want to. But when would I have? She cried when I put her down, on a floor liberally sprinkled with crumbs and toys. She cried from her high chair, after the snack was finished. I would have, too, with such a crusty, dirty tray in front of me. She cried when she toppled out of her bumbo onto a table strewn with papers and toys and yes, more crumbs. I would have put her on the counter to watch me but it sagged under its load of dirty dishes and crumbs. She perched on my hip. 20 lbs of 11-month-old flailing in my arms while I tried to make lunch and a smoothie and go “shopping”, frequently, at my threeyear-old’s meat store. “She would make a very talented, persuasive cashier.” I grimaced after another trip. Why do three-year-olds talk so much?? Cheerios crunching underfoot and the three-year-old’s chatter rattled through my brain. Raspberries and spinach from the smoothie flew off the counter, splattering the floor. I left them there. Because why not? What was ten more crumbs on a floor with ten thousand? I set Miss Willow down again, on her wobbly legs. She hunkered down and cried. And I?? I lifted my head to the ceiling and pleaded, “Help me please, Jesus! I’m going to lose it!” While frantically stirring potatoes with one hand and chopping eggs with the other, I heard it.
LOUELLA MARTIN and carried into the kitchen to her harried mother. “Mary, you will have a baby. And call Him Jesus…” She sang the Gospel story, as she understood it. Miraculous silence from Miss Willow and in that instant, I felt Jesus’s hand on my shoulder, I saw his eyes, the purest of pure love, shining into mine. His words stopped me in my hurried dash from stove to counter, loosening my hunched shoulders and unclenching my jaw. “See? You are doing a good job. It will be OK!” I still feel His hand on my shoulder and I hold His words like a golden treasure in my heart. Especially on those days when she cries a lot. This story was written over a year ago but I still hold it like a precious treasure, close to my heart. Isn’t that what the Christmas season is all about? To remind us, that yes, Jesus came as a baby, Immanuel - God with us - and because of that we can rest in his care for our lives. AZURE HIGHLANDS FAMILY HOMESTEAD 440164 120 Rd, Markdale www.azurehighlandshomestead.com @azurehighlandshomestead
Soft as I imagine angels’ voices, the clear, childish voice of my daughter rose from the bathroom, from her ‘meat’ store, 30
www.fiatluxmedia.com
