God yearns for our flourishing.~Eugene Cho

My mother expected a lot from me sometimes. She'd drop me off at the new school and smile, "Have a good day. See you at three." I longed for her to come into the school with me. I didn't know my way around. I was eight. I could feel my heart beating with anxiety. I hadn't yet sat under the tutelage of Mr. Rogers' wisdom that whispered, "When you don't know where to go or what to do, look for the helpers." A helper did arrive, a friendly teacher who found me wandering the halls. I did know my new teacher's name. The kind helper grabbed my hand and led me to my classroom. I felt relieved to find an empty desk, students still milling around in the chaos of the the first day of school. I wasn't late. My heartbeat slowed. I'd already memorized how to get to the new classroom. Tomorrow would be less scary.

Other times, my mother took me to places I liked to go. She stayed with me. One of our favorite locations was a park near our home. We could walk there. Giant oak trees shaded picnic tables situated on green, hilly knolls. We'd put our sack lunches on a picnic table and my mother would say, "Let's go swing." She'd exclaim, "Let's go really high!" I remember the dip in my stomach when I'd plummet down from that vast blue sky on those days with my mother. I loved to hear my mother laugh. I loved that she liked to swing too. Eventually, she'd make her way back to the picnic table, I could see her leaning back, elbows on the table, her face tipped up toward the sun. 

There is still a part of me that gets anxious when I don't know how to do things, when I don't know where to go. When I don't know what to do. My heart beats with anxiety. I am fearful. I freeze. Thankfully, I am learning there are helpers. I am learning, that like my mother, God enjoys my company, likes to be with me. It is such a good feeling, like the feeling on the swing. Legs pumping, going high, almost as if I could reach out and touch that sky. I am becoming more comfortable with the idea that God yearns to see His people flourish. Just like my mother surely enjoyed to see her child flourishing in that park all those years ago on a clear blue day.

For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.~Psalm 117:2 (NIV)