Like a child trusts a father

For a long time, I've had a desire to really explore our need to view God the way a child views a parent: all knowing, all powerful, forever loving, doing all for our good.  I believe the desire has come from listening to CDs of Bible songs in the car with Ellie, desiring to recapture the pure joy those songs brought me in - say - Vacation Bible School summer after summer.  I have had an image in my head of the pastor preaching about this need for childlike faith while all the songs during the service are Bible songs.  It's a silly little daydream, but the idea captivates me more than I can say.

Yesterday I realized God has been telling me exactly what I want to badly for Mikey, my seven-month-old son to understand.  It stunned me a bit when that realization hit, like an electric shock.  I didn't think at the time, however, about my recent fascination with the child/parent/God analogy.  (Perhaps my fascination was created by God to better prepare me for understanding yesterday's lesson?)

Recently I experienced the outcome of childlike faith.  Let me share my accounts of those moments of faith here as I shared them on facebook:

A little moment of praise: I prayed for my son's surgery this past Tuesday, and God delivered the surgery and recovery EXACTLY as I had prayed for it, right down to how long the surgery took (which I prayed would be an hour, even though they told me 1.5-2 hours)! I've never prayed so specifically, and this experience just blows me away!

Another moment of praise: Twice this week I prayed "Jesus take the pain away," once for my son and once for a stranger in the ER, and both times they found relief in about two minutes! The best part? The stranger had NO IDEA I was praying for him; there was a curtain between us and I wasn't saying anything out loud!

Tonight I am in the position of forcibly staying awake to wait for my next pumping session (since sleeping for 30 minutes and expecting to wake up and get out of bed is unreasonable for me).  I sat down at my computer and had to wake it up.  I felt the urge to do another time out lesson while I waited.  I figured I should read the lesson I skipped yesterday.  The lesson is entitled "Heavenly Father."  The scripture verse is Mark 10:15-16:

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them."

The lesson goes on to talk about how we lose our childlike faith, but God can help us get it back.  I think God timed this lesson so that I would be able to reflect on my own process of getting back my childlike faith over the last few months.  I admit I do feel a touch nostalgic recounting all of this, like wrapping up a long-worked-on project.  But I know that I'm not done with this.  I know I have to keep working on my childlike faith by fully giving to God everyday in prayer and being open to receiving whatever blessings and answers he returns.

What can you give to God today?