Sandboxes

 

I was knee deep in kids ministry stuff:   Curriculum.  Devotionals. Notebooks of ideas.  Collections of random stuff to use for object lessons, costumes or crafts.   I as wading through, and engrossed in my passion for teaching kids to follow Jesus.  I vaguely remember hearing the theme for the Wonder Pets on in the living room. It was distant background hum compared to the ministry puzzle I was piecing together.  I was practically oblivious to much else...until I heard the squeal.

As a mom, I have learned lots of squeals.  Some of them can have vastly different meanings.  Some I dread, like the  squeals of pain or squeals of tattling.  This one was not one of those.  This one was so delightful that you could not help but giggle when you heard it.   This was a contagious eruption of pure joy coming from my one year old daughter.

I stepped over my pile of tangible thoughts to see  what had her so tickled.  As I walked into the kitchen I wished that my camera had working batteries.  And then I wished that I my sizable nose was magical like Samantha on Bewitched.  There before my eyes was the happiest child I have ever seen, beaming and giggling, exploring and grinning, in the midst of one of the most gargantuan messes I have ever seen.

As I did not have a camera, and cannot simply wiggle my snoz to clean a mess, let me try and set the scene for you.

Amelia loves to play on the kitchen.  She loves to take things out of the cabinets and explore all of the different things she can find.  This is pretty typical.  What is a-typical on this day is the level to which she took this pastime.  She emptied out an entire set of cabinets. But it wasn't the pots and pans or the cups and bowls.  It wasn't the small one on the end where the towels live.  It was the baking cabinet.  Ten pounds of whole wheat flour.  Five pounds of whole grains. At least a pound of sugar.  Baking soda.  Powdered milk. Baking mix. Cocoa powder. Baking powder.  Did I mention that we typically buy these things in bulk at our house?  The entire right side of the kitchen was covered  (could not see tile or grout) in homemade sandbox at least four inches deep.  Amelia is sitting in the middle of it giddy, with bowls and cups and measuring spoons.  Her skin is uniformly covered in an odd shade of tan,  kind of like peanut butter cookie dough.  A PigPen-esk cloud  billows up around her.  She cannot contain her excitement.

When she notices I am standing ankle deep in her pile, she smiles and hands me a white plastic tablespoon.It is then I realize that she could not possibly have acted alone.  I had not been wading in my sandbox long enough for her to create all of this.  As if on cue, her best-est-friend and accomplice comes out of hiding from the other side of the counter.  The same PigPen cloud surrounds him.  He is covered in the same peanut butter hued powder. His face holds a different expression, not quite the uber-glee of his little sister.

There is happiness and contentment for sure, but there is also a hint of mischievousness.  His eyes were turned down slightly. He was aware I might not be brimming with joy at the thought of cleaning the baking-wonderland.  Yet, they still twinkled to let me know he was proud of the grandeur he created.

"Ian," I ask.  "What happened?"

"Mia wanted it."  "I made it better because... my wuv her!"

The conversation continued.  I tried explain about wastefulness.  We couldn't use any of this again!

"But,  My wuv her!"

I tried to explain about safety.  It was slippery stuff.

"But, My wuv her!"

I tried to explain about all the time mommy would lose cleaning the mess.

"But, my wuv her!"

I tried to explain that since he used all the baking stuff in the sandbox, there could be no cookies in the near future.

"But, ugh. My WUV her!"
.
(That last one was a doosy.  I could tell. )  He shifted his feet through the flour concoction.  More clouds of grain dust  kicked up as he went.  He wrapped his peanut butter colored arms around his peanut butter colored sister and gave her a kiss.

Three hours and one dead vacuum later, both the kitchen and the children were clean.  I went back to my original sandbox and began to think....

See, I know a story of a God who created an amazing world for someone He "wuv-ed"  As the story continues, this God enjoys being with to be with the ones He loves and to showing  them how to live in their world.   Even when unthinkable sacrifice is involved, this God has no regrets... all because He loves us.