airplanes

author:  Cecilia

My good friend Katy Barber has been leading the girls on elevation leadership through a Thursday morning bible study.  We are reading "The God I Never Knew" by Robert Morris.  In this book, Morris addresses misconceptions about the Holy Spirit and defines who he is.

In a chapter I read on vacation, Morris talks about how we hear the Holy Spirt.  One is through his word, and one is through his voice.  Morris writes:

"The Holy Spirit wants to speak clearly to us just as much as we want to hear clearly from Him." [pg.26]

I work at a Pediatric Outpatient Clinic in Conway called Pediatrics Plus.  I'm a speech therapist there, and I work with kids ages 9 months-12 years old.  Connected to our building is a preschool called The Center of Early Learning.  It serves children 6 weeks-5 years old with and without special needs.  Our building is in the shape of a "U" and in the middle of the "U" is a playground.  Two times a day, maybe more depending on the weather, the kids go outside for recess.  Because 1/2 of my caseload consists of children that attend The Center of Early Learning, I sometimes find my kids on the play ground when I need them for speech.

I've worked for Pediatrics plus for 4 years, either as a therapist or a classroom helper when I was in grad school.  What I've noticed time and time again is that between the ages of 1-3, at any point during recess, if an airplane flies over, the child stop what they are doing, look up in the sky, and yell airplane!!

It's kind of funny when you think about it.  The kids literally stop dead in their tracks and start screaming at the sky.  Then, they look at whatever adults are on the play ground to make sure they see it.  Usually the teachers are right there with the kids, pointing at the sky and yelling "airplane!"

The most bizarre part is that even kids with language delays can find an airplane.  I treated a child in that class last year that was two and I would lay out several pictures on the table of familiar objects (ball, spoon, house, car, etc). The child would sit there as I asked him to point to different pictures and would require my help on ALL the pictures BUT the airplane.  The airplane was identified every time.

Why?  Because these child have been trained to identify and acknowledge the airplane.  Their teachers have shown them how to look and listen for it, then they have taught them how to respond to it.

I started thinking about all of this when Matthew and I were flying home from Miami.  I started to wonder if any kids saw our airplane.  Then I started to think about Morris' book.

I know who the Holy Spirit is.  Since knowing the Lord, I have been taught how to identify him.  I've also been taught how to acknowledge Him, but what I have realized is that I am usually too busy to stop and do it.

To the 2 and 3 year olds, the airplanes are still exciting.  They would be completely content if airplanes could fly by every 5 minutes so they could holler and point at them.  But, after the age of 3,  the children move to what we call "the big playground".  It has two slides, sandboxes, swings, basketball courts, bicycles, etc.  The kids on that playground have stopped acknowledging the airplanes.  Why?  Because they are busy chasing their friends, playing, and being 4 year olds.  They have better things to do than point at airplanes in the sky.  I am the four year old.  I'm busy trying to be a good therapist, a good wife, a good daughter, a good friend...the list can go on.

It's not always hard for me to acknowledge the Lord. I think it's easier for me to acknowledge the Lord when I can see him.  When a broken person is encouraged, when the sick are healed, when I see community stepping up to support and love on someone, I can point at it and say "That's the Lord.", but when I don't see it, when I only hear it, it's harder for me to believe.  When I hear the Lord tell me promises for my future, yet I don't see how on earth that will happen, or when I hear the Lord tell me promises for someone else's future, but the world is telling the opposite, it's much harder for me to point and say "That's the Lord."

I started thinking about this and once again, I was reminded of the children at school.   Even if a child doesn't see the airplane because of the clouds, they will still stop in their tracks and point to the airplane just by hearing it's roar, and it gets the same response whether they see it or not.  It's because they know what an airplane sounds like, and without seeing it, only hearing it, they can confidently identify and acknowledge it's somewhere in the sky.

So my prayer has changed from "God let me hear your voice" to "God let me hear your Holy Spirit and acknowledge that it's you.  No matter what my eyes see or don't see, let me rest in your promises and know that it's you.  Allow my selfish heart to stop and respond to how good you are and the blessings you bring in and out of my life."