Wobble Wobble

 ~ The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27 ~

With a two year old who gives a running commentary of everything that happens in our day, the phrase of today has been "wobble wobble."

My youngest has been sitting up solo for the last couple of weeks, but so unsteadily that I have felt only able to encourage this new skill whilst I've been sitting behind ready to catch him when he falls. Today, for the first time, I decided that he was steady enough to sit on his own with only some cushions behind him to break his fall. As my eldest and I watched him sitting there all by himself, we alternated between giving him a clap for sitting alone, and saying "wobble wobble" as he teetered this way and that.

This afternoon we went for a walk with my son's new balance bike. Despite the fact that it was the first time he'd used it outside of our garden, and despite that the fact that he was very unsteady, he would not let me help at all and kept pushing my hand away whenever I tried to steady him. There was lots of "wobble wobble" as he was cycling along and I stopped counting how many times he fell over when it reached double figures! But despite my fears as he insisted on propelling himself down hills, I was also immensely proud that, despite the wobbles, he was persevering and eventually succeeding. 

Today at various points (as on many days) my heart has been in my mouth as I've watched my children explore and experiment doing things without my help. I've realised that I have to let them have their wobbles, or else they won't progress in life. 

I also think this is a really lovely image of how God is with us. As His children, He has to allow us to go and do things for ourselves and as we learn new things and walk new paths He can take a step back, watch us wobble and make mistakes; but always He is ready to catch us when we fall, to praise us when we succeed and to watch over us as we say "wobble wobble" before taking a deep breath and continuing on. 

Today has been a day of "wobble wobble", and all the positive and scary emotions that come with that. I still can't quite comprehend that all the feelings I feel for my children as a mum - the love, the pride, the nerves as they branch out solo - are feelings that God feels for me as His child.

And even more amazing is that God feels that way about my children too: when I am a bit too far away to stop their fall, or when my heart is in my mouth over their new adventures, God is always there, looking after them, waiting for me to trust them into His loving arms.