Comfort

Tonight was a hard night in the Lowman household.  Bingo went in for a bath and wasn't ready for bed when the time came.  Who is Bingo you ask, and why wasn't she ready for bed?  I'll tell you.

Bingo is a stuffed animal.  A dog to be exact.  She was a gift to my daughter from one of our friends.  She is the main stuffed animal for my daughter right now.  Hannah has made her friendship bracelets and collars and sto on that she wears.  Bingo goes with us to school every morning.  Hannah always asks me to take Bingo inside when I get to the office so she doesn't get cold, and I do because I'm that kind of a dad.  While not the only stuffed animal in the bed, Bingo is the main stuffed animal in the bedtime routine.

Today, Bingo needed a bath.  It had been awhile and she was starting to smell (how do stuffed animals turn smelly???).  So, into the laundry she went.  Unfortunately, she didn't get through it all in time for bed.

When Hannah went to do her bedtime routine, she asked her mom where Bingo was.  "She's still in the laundry," said momma.  The look on Hannah's face was one of total disappointment.  I assured her that she would be ok, that we could make it through one night, and then hurried her off to put on her pjs and brush her teeth.  I even went so far as to give her extra time before bed to snuggle with me on the couch.  I thought we were going to make it.

When we went to bed, there again was the sad look of disappointment on her face.  We did our songs and she snuggled in.  We had made it.

About 15 minutes later, Hannah called out to her momma, wondering if Bingo was through the wash yet.  When Steph told her it would be another hour, Hannah said ok and rustled in her bed some.  I went to check on her a few minutes later and she was laying there crying.

Being the dad that I am, the one that carries a stuffed animal into his office because his daughter asks him to, I crawled in bed wit her so she would calm down.  I tried to give her comfort, and I think my presence did.  She fell asleep after awhile.  But, the thing that could have made it all better instantly would have been Bingo.

As I laid there with her, the thought that kept going through my mind is this:  How often is God there, ready to give us comfort and solace, when all we  do is want something else.  Luckily for me, Hannah is nine.  She still trusts me. My continual prayer is that she will still trust me as she hits the double digits and progresses through her teen years.

How do we respond to God?  Do we allow him to comfort us and take the place of the Bingos in our life?  Or do we fight him for whatever reason.

Lord, may you let us come to you like little children...who sometimes get lost in stuffed animals, but quickly learn to trust in you.