“Well, I have a verrrry BIG lap,” I replied to my five-year-old granddaughter when she asked how I was going to hold all four of my grandchildren at the same time.
I had just told Edda how excited I was to be getting the thing I wanted most for Christmas this year: to be able to hold her, her brother Walter, and their California cousins, Lucy and Levi, on my lap.
I was ecstatic when I found out Lucy and Levi (and their parents, of course) wanted to spend Christmas with us. It was no small sacrifice for my son, Andy, and his wife Janine, given their children’s ages: two and eight months.
I remember flying when our boys were very young. Keeping those little guys entertained and contained during the flight was quite a challenge. I especially recall apologizing to fellow passengers when Andy discovered how much fun it was to fling his pacifiers at the people in the rows behind us.
But that flight was nothing compared to the long journey Andy his family were facing as they travelled from San Francisco.
Commercial flying in the cheap seats isn’t fun under any circumstances these days, but travelling with a rambunctious toddler and a baby … well, that could be the stuff of nightmares.
I was afraid the experience might be so harrowing that Andy and Janine would vow never to try it again, so as they flew, I followed their flight path on my computer and prayed them across the country.
But my South Carolina granddaughter, Edda, wasn’t really worried about how her little cousins were going to get here. She was just concerned that Gram might not have enough room on her lap to hold everybody once they arrived.
But I knew I could handle it.
And speaking of ample laps, if you’ll pardon this attention deficit disorder moment, I recently read an article about how big laps … well actually, large rear ends … are in vogue right now.
Lots of folks, the article said, are even buying pads to make their derrieres look bigger. I always hoped I’d live long enough to see plumpness become trendy again, like it was back in the 17th-century when artists seemed to favor well-fleshed models. Could it actually be happening now?
If so, with the added functional benefit of being able to hold more kids on my lap, a bounteous booty might finally seem like a blessing, not a curse.
So, you see, Edda really never had anything to worry about. I have plenty of room for all my little grandcuties—both on my lap and in my heart. In fact, I’m quite convinced there’s no limit to the number of grandchildren a grandparent can love … just as there’s no limit to God’s love for His children.
There have been times, I confess, when I’ve looked around and within, and wondered about God’s love. But I always return to the truth: God says He is love (1 John 4). It’s who He is and what He does.
I can’t judge God by what’s happening in this fallen world. Rebellion against God caused this mess. There is a place where the love of God will be perfectly displayed, but we’re not there yet.
Until then, I choose to believe God when He says He loves us. I choose to simply accept and enjoy it, as it seems little children did when they were in the presence of Jesus (see Matthew 19).
God has an infinitely big lap with plenty of room up close to His heart for every one of us who will come to Him as humbly and honestly as a child.
I don’t have to understand that; I just have to climb on up.