Jenn Apple

If you liked this post, check out more from Jenn Apple.

Today I was walking through the mall with my daughter, who (for the most part) was good about holding my hand & staying with me.  BUT, there were a few times where she thought it was funny to run away from mommy.

The first time she ran away, I knelt down beside her attempted to explain why it was so dangerous....Being that she's only 2, I thought that a childlike example would be more helpful than an explanation...

Finding Nemo seemed like a good way to go...

I said "Genesis, what happened to Nemo when he swam away from his daddy?"...To which she replied..."He touched the butt."

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.....

That wasn't the point that I was even close to making, but she was so right :o)

In the movie, Finding Nemo, the little fish are at school one day.  While they are out near the drop off, they see a boat in the distance.  They have a short discussion amongst themselves as to the name of the object...

Nemo: What's that?
Tad: I know what that is. Sandy Plankton saw one. He called it... uh... he said it was called a "butt".
Pearl: That's a pretty big butt.
[swims out a little]
Sheldon: Oh, look at me. I'm gonna touch the butt.

My daughter remembered that little scene :o) Out of the mouth of babes!!!

After I finished laughing out loud, and regained my composure, I finished explaining to her about how sad & scared Nemo & his daddy were when the man took him away...and, that he should have been a good listener.  She got it :o)

But, her innocence when she looked up at me & said "He touched the butt" is something that I will never forget!

I wish more of us could have a childlike innocence about us.  I wish that we could still dream like kids, and that we could trust to run with reckless abandon! 

“Know you what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different from the man of to-day. It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul.” ~Francis Thompson

That's the kind of world I wish that we could have…one where kids aren't corrupted by the depths of despair that our society has reached.  One where little girls wouldn't stare at the covers of magazines and think that's where perfection lies.

But, I've learned that I cannot control outside factors of life.  What I can do is control myself & what I say.  So, I try to allow my daughter the space to imagine & create...and, I always make sure to tell her how beautiful she is inside & out!  I must tell her 50 times a day.  But, I want her to always remember it...I want it to be so deeply ingrained in her that she remembers it when she hits that first uncomfortable time as a pre-teen, or when she is being pressured as a teenager to do things to "fit in."

Instead, I hope that she can hold strong to who she is & KNOW that she is beautiful!  That Christ is what she needs to hold onto & not the things of this world.

As for me, I would love to learn to be more child-like again…to trust & to believe...not only in this world, but in myself. 

I need to continually adjust my thinking...I am not going to the gym to become skinny and perfect (that's not what perfection is, nor will I ever achieve perfection)...but, I am going to become healthy & to feel better physically.

That's where the importance lies! 

Oh, and don't worry...I won't be touching any butts :o)