Whose afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Mandie and I have been having a lot of very interesting discussions lately. It all started a few weeks ago when my mom let her take home my old "Little Red Riding Hood" book and doll. It's really pretty neat, the doll can morph into Red, the Big Bad Wolf, and Grandma all with the change of a hat or the flip of a skirt. I remember taking that doll and book to show and tell in elementary school, and Mandie really loves reading the book and acting out the story with her doll.
However, it seems that she has developed a rather serious wolf-phobia after all that reading and role playing! So now, at night she will usually say something like, "Mommy, are there any wolves in our house?" and I'll calmly reassure her that real wolves live far away from houses out in the wild. They just don't like it in houses with the people. Then we will say our prayer that the Lord will send an angel to stay in Mandie's room and watch over her while she sleeps to keep her safe. This prayer has brought on a lot of discussion about angels and what they are like, I'll go more into that in a minute.
Then her Dad will come in to kiss her goodnight, and she'll say something like, "Daddy, make sure you lock all the doors so no wolves come in our house." Then her heroic Father will respond with something brave like, "What! There will be no wolves wandering around in this house! Your Daddy eats wolves for breakfast! In fact, I'm kinda hungry right now. I'm going to go check around for wolves so I can cook'em up and eat 'em if I find 'em." All of which Mandie finds quite delightful!
OK, back to angels. Last night I was reading in Mark about right after Jesus was baptized. He was led by the Holy Spirit to spend 40 days in the wilderness with the wild animals, but he was kept safe from them by angels. I read it to Mandie today so that she would see that Jesus is protected from wild animals by angels, and because we are His children too, we can also receive that protection. When Mandie heard this news her eyes opened wide and she was so excited and relieved to hear such news! She even fetched her brother so that he could hear the exciting news. Even though he's not scared of the Big Bad Wolf. In fact, that's his favorite thing to pretend to be. He calls him, "Du Bid" big inhale, "Bad", big inhale, "Woolf".
I hope to always remember that the Lord intends to protect me when I need protecting. That is a privilege of being His daughter. However, there will be times in my life when protection for me would be more hurtful than helpful for his glory and his plans. So I must remember that the Lord knows what is best for me, and He is sovereign to do what is right and fair at all times. I haven't broken that last part to Mandie yet, I think she'd never fall asleep if I did!
However, it seems that she has developed a rather serious wolf-phobia after all that reading and role playing! So now, at night she will usually say something like, "Mommy, are there any wolves in our house?" and I'll calmly reassure her that real wolves live far away from houses out in the wild. They just don't like it in houses with the people. Then we will say our prayer that the Lord will send an angel to stay in Mandie's room and watch over her while she sleeps to keep her safe. This prayer has brought on a lot of discussion about angels and what they are like, I'll go more into that in a minute.
Then her Dad will come in to kiss her goodnight, and she'll say something like, "Daddy, make sure you lock all the doors so no wolves come in our house." Then her heroic Father will respond with something brave like, "What! There will be no wolves wandering around in this house! Your Daddy eats wolves for breakfast! In fact, I'm kinda hungry right now. I'm going to go check around for wolves so I can cook'em up and eat 'em if I find 'em." All of which Mandie finds quite delightful!
OK, back to angels. Last night I was reading in Mark about right after Jesus was baptized. He was led by the Holy Spirit to spend 40 days in the wilderness with the wild animals, but he was kept safe from them by angels. I read it to Mandie today so that she would see that Jesus is protected from wild animals by angels, and because we are His children too, we can also receive that protection. When Mandie heard this news her eyes opened wide and she was so excited and relieved to hear such news! She even fetched her brother so that he could hear the exciting news. Even though he's not scared of the Big Bad Wolf. In fact, that's his favorite thing to pretend to be. He calls him, "Du Bid" big inhale, "Bad", big inhale, "Woolf".
I hope to always remember that the Lord intends to protect me when I need protecting. That is a privilege of being His daughter. However, there will be times in my life when protection for me would be more hurtful than helpful for his glory and his plans. So I must remember that the Lord knows what is best for me, and He is sovereign to do what is right and fair at all times. I haven't broken that last part to Mandie yet, I think she'd never fall asleep if I did!
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