During the summer, and part-time during the school year, I nanny for the three most adorable kids on planet Earth. True, there are some days that I pull my hair out and question if I ever want to have children, but that all goes away the moment Mickey saves a kiss that I blow at him, when Sloane kisses me on the nose and says she loves me, and, one of my personal favorites, when Bridget laughs so hard, there is a silence between each laugher because she needs to breath (can you tell their family is VERY Irish?) Yes, these kids may be the death of me, but, truth is, more often than not - they’re the best of me too.
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The other day, the big kids and I were planning hide and go see in their backyard. Sloane is a little too young to hide by herself, so we usually play together. Mickey was hiding somewhere within the backyard when I heard a noise. He was making sounds to try and get us to come over and see him. Sloane knew it too and within seconds, she found him and another round of hide-and-go-seek was underway. At first, I didn’t think too much of it. Of course little kids want to be found right away. Being alone is scary for them. But then, that got me thinking.
It’s not just little kids that are scared of being alone. Big kids- I’m talking to you college students sitting with your “adult apple juice”- are afraid to be alone too. If I had to admit one of the biggest fears in my life- besides losing members in my family- being alone would probably be in the top five. Then, it hit me.
Life is like the adult version of hide-and-go-seek. What are we hiding from, exactly? That’s easy. God.
Although admitting this brings me great shame- but brings my mother satisfaction that she was right- I was somewhat of a rebellious teenager. Not the drinking alcohol, smoking pot, sneaking out to parties teenager. I mean the: I-won’t-make-my-bed-in-the-morning-even-though-you’ve-asked-me-a-million-times-and-it’s-one-simple-chore kind of teenager. (Sometimes, I think my mother wishes I would have snuck out to parties.) Regardless, in our own way, I think we rebel or cause a scene because secretly- we want to be found.
We call out by using different types of methods- sex, drugs, Netflix, you name it, we just don’t want to be alone, and I’m as guilty of it as anyone. How many times have you picked up the bottle trying to numb the pain or can you count the amount of Netflix episodes you have watched to procrastinate the work that needs to get done? If we spent as much time studying, reading, or even loving those around us as we did watching a 45 minute episode, the world would be a much better place and, maybe, just maybe, Donald Trump may not be the Republican nominee. Through all of these different things, we are calling out for someone to find us so that we no longer have to be alone.
Well, the one good thing that is going to come out of this article is that we are never alone. When I was young and rebellious, and even sometimes nowadays, my mom use to tell me that there was absolutely nothing that I could do that she would love me any less for. During my youth, I use to test that theory, but alas, it still stood. But, how cool is it that even though my Earthly mother has this unconditional love for me, Christ love is deeper than that.
He died on the cross for me and for you and no matter what we do during this lifetime, there is nothing in the whole wide world that He can’t- or won’t- forgive if we ask for it. See, the thing is, we don’t need to hide or run away, because we’ve already been found by the one who will never stop seeking.
