All day long my four-year old son is plagued by curiosity and filled with limitless ideas and energy. It indeed is a powerful combination. He sees. He thinks. He does. There is no hesitation. There is no fear. There is however always consequences.
He sees folded blankets in a closet. He imagines a fort. He proceeds to pull every blanket out, drag them through the hall, and pile them on the coffee table. He does the task with great speed and pride. He smiles as I walk in the living room and find his masterpiece. He has no idea that I spent the previous day organizing the linens closet, spending much time folding and sorting the “walls” of his fort. Neither has he any idea of the time I spent washing the blankets that he meticulously dragged across the not-so clean floor in order to accomplish his own mighty task.
I find myself asking him the question that I seem to ask him everyday, “Did you ask if you should do that?” His smile drops from his face and he slowly shakes his head. I saw a look I too often make myself. Then I thought something, “Had I asked?”
I realized that it was I who had taken on the task the day before without asking. I had not prayed or asked the Lord to order my day. I had not asked him if I should have invested so much time on the linen closet. I had seen a messy closet. I thought I would organize it. And so I did only to find all my work undone, dragged across the floor and piled high on great display. I saw. I thought. I did. There were indeed consequences. Slowly I am learning with my children that the one question that matters most is, “Did you ask?”
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
- Psalm 32:8
By Charity Gutierrez
Published January 24, 2011 What’s Around Town, Madison-Ridgeland Edition, Copyright 2011
