Sunday, November 05, 2006

A Lesson from Makana



As you can see, Makana is not lacking in calories or nutrients. Sometimes, however, when she cries, I need to tell her, "Baby, you are not dying of starvation. You just ate 3 hours ago." At that point, she is not in the reasoning mode, though, and she just cries all the more, sounding like she has been deprived of food and drink for days. When she sees her bowl of poi and veggies or cereal and fruit, she leans over toward it, batting her hand to try as hard as she can to get it. As she sits in her chair, waiting for me to place the spoon in her mouth, she opens it fully, exposing her tonsils. She actually made my mom laugh hardily, for even after having raised 7 children and watched so many more, Mom had never seen a child so prepared to receive the food about to enter her mouth.

One might think that after the first bite or so, Makana would settle down and not be as excited nor ready for the next spoonfuls. Oh, so wrong! Many times, she sits there, scolding me (as she does her Uncle Johnny, although I must say, Uncle Johnny deserves his . . .), with her mouth wide open. Makana's also been observing all the adults around her eat. When she gets her mushy concoction in her mouth, she chews on it with her gums, more than necessary for ample digestion.

After her meal, she looks at her bottle and goes into her scolding voice again until she gets at least an ounce of milk into her system. All the while, she makes little noises, implying, "Finally!"

God is exceedingly gracious! Mommyhood does not usually bring the luxury of spending uninterrupted time with the Lord as I had in the past (except for when I decide to stay up at 2:30 or 3:00 am sometimes). He has challenged me to "hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matthew 5.6) through my child. Do I crave spiritual food as much as Makana does physical food? If I miss a "feeding" of his nourishing word, do I go into withdrawals and yearn after it, understanding that it is my food for life? Do I thirst after him as though I will wither with weakness from dehydration? Do I chew (thanks, Krista H!)--meditate--on God's Word as I take it in? Does the first morsel of God's Word make me desire more of it? "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!" (Psalm 34.8). Am I merely satisfied with a morsel of his truth, or do I go after his feast he offers?

3 comments:

Bolo said...

With me around, I would think you'd have learned this lesson earlier in life...

;)

Gung Ho said...

"Sometimes, however, when she cries, I need to tell her, "Baby, you are not dying of starvation. You just ate 3 hours ago." At that point, she is not in the reasoning mode, though, and she just cries all the more, sounding like she has been deprived of food and drink for days."

You sound like you are actually talking about John.

monchan :) said...

Soooo true. As I recall, though, Johnny didn't start sounding like this until way after he was out of his diapers. With Makana, I am looking at it as a teaching moment. With Johnny, well . . . gotta be honest, just looked at my food bill! :)

Nawww, I am glad he enjoys my cooking, even though he prefers orange chicken over lemon chicken.