I consider it one of my greatest joys to be a grandmother and enjoy precious moments as often as I can with my beautiful grandchildren.  My granddaughter, Hollyn will soon be eleven years old.  I can hardly believe it because I still remember the day the doctor told us our daughter Micah was going to have a girl.  I was beyond excited, and we share a special bond that I cherish.  In fact I call her my “shadow” because she always wants to be with me and that’s perfectly fine with me!

I was thinking the other day that as she moves into her pre-teen years she is changing not only physically, but intellectually and emotionally as well.  I am literally preparing myself that although our special bond prayerfully will never change, soon she will not be as dependent upon me as she has been up to this point.  She’s maturing quickly and developing into a beautiful young lady. 

I have to admit though, I cherish the things and times where her need for her “Mimi” is still quite evident.  Under close supervision she’s learning to cook a few things, set the table, do chores around the house, and she has always been a tremendous help with her younger brothers and cousins.  But even though she is given certain liberties to get and do things on her own, when she’s with me she almost always asks first before attempting to venture out even if she thinks she can handle it.  Although I know these days will soon be winding down I’m enjoying them while I still have them.

Thinking about Hollyn prompted me to think about our relationship with our heavenly Father.  As we grow and mature in our spiritual walk, we learn many things through the Word and our experiences in our Christian journey.   Many times we become too independent of the Father with the knowledge and abilities we possess.  Although God is the giver of life and everything that comes along with it, He never intended for us to operate independent of Him. 

It doesn’t happen too often, but occasionally Hollyn moves ahead in something she thinks she can handle and it turns out she needed my assistance after all because she makes a mess or gets hurt.   When that happens even though she’s wrong, I’m the first one she runs to!  How often do we as adults, do the same thing that my ten year old Hollyn occasionally does?  Instead of just consulting God first, we think we can do it, manage it, work it out, fix it, on our own and we end up making a mess! After we make a mess of things, and they turn out exactly the opposite of how we wanted them to, we then run back to God and plead with Him to fix it!

We never get “too grown” that we do not need to consult God first.  He always has the best answers, the best way, and the best outcome!