Swan Chasing Toddlers and the Eyes of a Momma...



Yesterday, I had "Mommy Vision" that came out like a stealth bomber.  We had decided to meet up with one of my best friends, Jenny, and her family at the park for lunch.  We figured there was a ton of space to play, run, and roam and we could just catch up on life.  Jenny, who had just had twins, was rocking them in the double stroller and we were deep in conversation as our husbands were manning the other three kids on the playground.  I had just noticed this HUGE...I am talking HUGE...swan creeping behind the trashcan about 50 feet away from us.  I turned to Jenny and said, "Oh my word!  Check out that swan.  It's HUGE!"  She turned and looked, agreed at its bigness, and we went back to our deep conversation.

Then all of a sudden, out of my peripheal vision, I noticed Biruk, my very fast (he comes from the region of marathon runners in Ethiopia...he...is...fast...) toddler, sprinting towards the swan.  Side note:  I have heard that swans are mean.  They are beautiful, but they can get a little aggressive.  Biruk was about 100 feet away, but moving at about 100 miles per hour.  I went into panic mode and at the top of my lungs, loud enough for the entire park to hear (I know they did, because they were all staring at me), I screamed, "Biruk!!!!  No!!!!!  Stop running!!!!  Don't go near the bird!!!!"  And just like a good little toddler, he ran faster...towards the swan.  And if it wasn't bad enough he was close to it, he reached out to try to grab onto it.

Thankfully, the swan (who by the way was taller than Biruk) decided Biruk wasn't worth her time that day and took off.  This momma's heart raced faster than I would have liked.

A few minutes later, all of us adults were sitting at the picnic table and my friend Brian told me that he didn't even see the swan and was wondering why I went into panic mode.  I am sure that I looked like a mad woman.  We had a really good laugh over that one.

As I thought about that incident later that day, I couldn't help but think that no one else saw that unfold except for me.  It got me thinking that God is so much like that in our life.  He sees things when we can't see them.  His "vision" is so different than ours.  We think we can see things with a 20/20 vision, but I think we sometimes forget that God's vision is so much greater than ours.  Whether it's circumstances that we think should change, whether it's people who we struggle to love, whether it's our future, our job situations, or life in general, God can see so much more.

I want God's vision to be my vision.  I was running 8 miles on the treadmill last night (thank goodness for good music), when Rend Collective's song, "You Are My Vision," came on.  I couldn't help but hear the one line over and over again:

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O Ruler of All.

 I can't always see what God is doing in my life, but just like I have "Mommy Vision" for my son, Biruk, God has it for me.  I only hope and pray that I will listen when he calls.

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