Childlike Anticipation

A couple days ago I was making brownies with a little four year old friend of mine. I must say it was rather sweet to watch his enthusiasm. Begging with delight he said, "can I crack the eggs?" "Can I stir?" "Can I try a chocolate chip?" When we finally poured the batter into pan and popped it into the oven, he could hardly wait for those 30 minutes to be up to taste his creation. We'd play with his toys for a little while, then with bright, wide eyes, he would say, "HEY! Maybe the brownies are done!" He'd trot to the oven and ask me to turn on the oven light to check. Not yet.

Thirty minutes is a long wait for a little boy. "How many more minutes now?" he'd ask. "Ten minutes." He'd wait about twenty seconds and then say, "how about now?" Soon enough, however, the timer beeped and there was a cheer--the brownies were ready! He was not in the least disappointed. "Mmm, yum! These are good!" I heard him say through a mouthful of crumbs.

Ever since that fun little baking session, I have thought a lot about the childlike anticipation we are meant to have through Christ. Allowing Jesus to shape a childlike expectation in our life is a beautiful thing. While I once awoke each morn wishing I had more time to sleep, I now often find myself filled with a joyful adoration for Jesus. Just think, we can give our first words in praise to Him! It is not because I have a perfect life or something like that, but instead because I know with all my heart that our King is the Way, and with a childlike anticipation, I can declare:

"Jesus, what do you have in store today?"
"Hey! Maybe I can serve this way!" 
"Look how God painted the sunset tonight!"
"What can I learn from the Lord today?" 

What is that makes your heartbeat quicken, your hands tingle, your feet itch? Contrary to what I've often thought, these things shouldn't necessarily be meant for "someday, later." Those callings and gifts can be cultivated right now by seeking Jesus, and knowing that He delights in our childlike anticipation.

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." Psalm 62:5

Lauren's Late Night Escapades

I've always been terribly obsessed with the moon. Back when I thought I was going to be a world-renowned novelist someday, I even wrote a book about a girl who was obsessed with the moon just to make me feel like I was normal.

It didn't work. 

Anyway, reminiscing aside, I am still very fascinated by the moon, and last night's full one was just begging to be photographed with my new camera. Waiting until I was sure it would be visible above our backyard jungle of trees, I tiptoed down the hallway with my camera and snuck outside. 

To my great disappointment, even though it was after midnight, the moon was still behind the trees. Sitting on the deck rail, I waited for awhile, hoping that it would emerge. 

When it finally did emerge, I began snapping photos, excited at the prospect of what they would look like. Until, of course, I noticed that they looked like this:

Needless to say, I was disappointed and decided to give up, as the time was nearing 1 o'clock in the morning. But then I realized something- I'm blind as a bat at night without my contact lenses! Even though the moon looked perfectly round and light and glorious to me, it was also very fuzzy. Perhaps there was something in my way that I couldn't see, blocking the path between the moon and I. 

After tiptoeing in the house to fetch my glasses and tiptoeing back out, I discovered that there were dozens of trees in the way! I just couldn't see them without looking at them through the proper lenses. 

How often do I look at situations and immediately try to figure them out on my own, getting discouraged and disgruntled when things don't make sense? All of the time. But God has this uncanny ability of knowing everything, and it's supposed to be my job to follow Him in everything, not try to figure it out on my own with my blind-as-a-bat night vision. 

And, just so you know, as soon as I could see clearly, I just moved to a different spot and found a clear window without any obstacles. Then I took this one: