Follow in the Footsteps

5:45 a.m. last Sunday morning- I had gotten up early to finish up my Sunday School lesson that I give to 50 or so women each week at the church we attend, when I was joined by 5 year old Ana! Let's just say that my early morning time is a haven, a reprieve, a recharger, an absolute necessity right up there with eating and breathing, so I have a very hard time being joined by little ones!

Ana during one of her sweet moments (not at 5:45 a.m.!)

Upon joining me in the office, she promptly informed me that 2 year old David was sleeping in her bedroom. Hmmmm! David's bedroom is downstairs. Ana's bedroom is upstairs. David's bedroom is literally in the opposite corner of the house and I KNEW that I had put him to bed in his crib the night before. Ana pulled me to her door (across the hall from my office) and, sure enough, there was David, curled up on top of Ana's pink blankey there on her floor! I decided that I really didn't want to try and figure this all out before 6 a.m. so, I took Ana back to my office, laid her down on the floor and tried to finish up my Sunday School lesson...when....David arrived!

David showing off his "innocent" look...NOT!

Hmmmm! He was completely naked except for his diaper, which was on backwards! I KNEW I had put pajamas on him the night before and, after changing diapers for the last 10 years of my life with no break, I KNEW I had not put his diaper on backwards!

"Ana, where is David's pajama?"

"He took it off, Mommy."

"Oh. How did David get into your bedroom?"

"I took him there."

OK, so this was not making any sense, but I was more anxious to get them back to sleep and get myself back to my Sunday School lesson than to try and figure out this early morning mystery!

An hour later Angie, our 18 yr. old daughter, pops her in head into the office:

"Mom, why does the bathroom floor have diarrhea all over it?" (Sorry if that was too much information:-)

A few more pieces of that morning's interesting puzzle began falling into place in my mind.

Ana woke up and I began asking her questions about her night that had surely been most interesting!

As far as I can tell here is what happened:

• David woke up in the night with a very dirty diaper full of diarrhea.
  
• Since most of the time he doesn't wake up until morning and knows that he can find me doing devotions in my office upstairs, he went upstairs looking for me. However, since it was the middle of the night, he didn't find me there.
  
• The noise of him going upstairs and calling for me woke up Ana, whose room is near my office.
  
• She got up and found David in the bathroom taking off his own very dirty diaper, which he promptly carried to the garbage can...dripping all the way! :-)
  
• Ana told me that she then cleaned up his bottom and put on a new diaper! She is five years old and the diapers are kept in the downstairs bathroom. She and David were in one of the upstairs bathrooms. So, in the middle of the night, Ana went downstairs, climbed onto the changing table, got a new diaper for David (the right size, too, as we have kids in two sizes of diapers at night) and put the diaper on him, backwards, but she got it on.
  
• Then, she took him to her bedroom, used her own blankets to make a little bed for him on her floor and put him to sleep!
  

I couldn't believe it! I was so proud of her! I was proud of her initiative, caring spirit, responsible actions, calmness and bravery!

As I thought more and more about this situation, one curious aspect of it kept grabbing my attention. Why did Ana put David to bed on her floor if the two of them would have fit in her bed with no problem?

I think I have it figured out! When any of our children get scared at night or wet their bed, they come into Victor's and my bedroom. However, we only have a full size bed, so nobody else can really fit in it besides ourselves. So, we always have an extra warm blanket on hand in our room to throw on the floor and create a makeshift sleeping space for the needy child. So, in Ana's estimation, if you have to help a child during the night and bring that child into your bedroom, then he or she needs to sleep on your floor!

This occurrence brought to my mind, front and center, just how powerful our example truly is for our children. I know...duh! Of course I know that our daily example of living forms and shapes our children much more than our teaching and words but, every once in awhile, a situation arises that reminds me of just how powerful our daily example is! This was one such situation!

The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." Oh, that those words would be true as I parent my children! May I be able to say to my kids: "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." There are so many days when my actions, attitudes and words are so far from that ideal. On those days I am so thankful for the grace of Jesus Christ and the assurance that His mercies will truly be new the next morning!

Our goal is for our children to follow the example of Christ, but sometimes Jesus just seems too far away for them to effectively follow in His footsteps. As they start out, they need some human-sized footprints to follow - our footprints. As our kids walk in their mommy and daddy's footsteps, even putting blankets on the floor at night for their younger siblings, may their mommy and daddy follow their Father's footsteps so that one day, they too, can grow up to follow their true Daddy's footprints all the way to Heaven!