The God Bracelet

"I CAN'T WEAR THIS COAT.  IT'S BLACK.  All the kids will laugh at me.  It's not pink or purple.  I only wear girl colors.  I'm calling my mom and I'm never coming back to school again."

I was horrified to hear about Lydia's preschool tyrade when I picked her up from preschool the other day.  She had stuffed her coat from the morning in her cubby and had forgotten where she had put it.  So, when recess time came, her teacher had to pull an extra coat from the closet.  Obviously, Lydia had not been pleased.  And she carried on for quite some time.  As you can see from that scene alone, when it comes to getting to wear what she wants, or having her own way about anything, Lydia can be quite verbally manipulative.  (Don't worry, she was faced with consequences both at school and home and knows that it's unacceptable for something like that to ever happen again.)

It's my job, as Lydia's mom, to figure out what her motives are in moments like this, and help her redirect them properly.  This morning, as I was frantically trying to get out the door, she demanded to wear her "God bracelet."  Lydia and I have matching "God bracelets."  They are homemade gifts from my dear friend Marty. Each charm on the bracelet stands for something relating to Jesus and how he loved us, came to earth for us, died for us, and rose again.  I wear mine almost every single day.  Because Lydia is four and loses thing (not to mention eats things), and this is quite literally a priceless gift, I only let Lydia wear hers when she is supervised by David and I.

She was absolutely adamant about wearing that bracelet this morning.  And I was frustrated by her stubborness.  "Lydia, why today?  Why do you need to wear it so bad today?"  It was a heat of the moment kind of response that I'm not particularly proud of, especially when I consider the annoyance that resonated in my voice.  But, she gave me the most sincere answer I've ever heard from her.

"Momma, I just need sumfing to rememba me about God.  Sometimes I have trouble remembewing about him."

Wow.  She just need a tangible reminder about God and His love for us.
Now, to be honest, I still didn't let her wear the bracelet.  I'm serious when I say I worry about her eating the beads.  But, I did go and open her hair barrette tin and I picked out a pretty barette that had a bright pink flower and feathers on it.  I knelt down and said, "Lydia who made flowers?"
"God did Momma."
"That's right.  So, Momma's gonna put this in your hair to remind you that God made the flowers and you.  He loves you Lydia and so do I."
She touched her barrette, satisfied with the tangible proof of God that was now mounted on her noggin.


I learned a big lesson from my little girl today.  Sometimes, the people around us just need to see evidence of God in their lives, and He can use us to show it to them.




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