This afternoon I watched 5 young children race down the dune and into Lake Michigan’s gentle waves without a moment’s hesitation or a backward glance. Although they seemed to be in the 6-8 year range, no adult was following. No one was shouting, “Wait till I get there!”
Watching them cavort in chin-deep water, I was reminded of my own childhood and similar unsupervised water play at the same beach. When Mary and I grew up and had children ourselves, they also splashed freely there from sun-up to sun-down.
Whenever we had young babies, we’d arrive at the beach on the “early shift” so that by mid-afternoon our little ones could be back home for naps. If Mom was at the cottage too, she was always willing to listen for the nappers so Mary and I could head back to the waterfront alone.
One summer afternoon in 1975, while our little ones were sleeping with their grandma in charge, Mary and I went back to the beach to luxuriate in some time without any children. All of a sudden Mary said, “Hey… Look down the beach. Isn’t that Nelson and Julia wading into the water?”
Sure enough, the 2 two-year-olds we’d put to bed not long before were wading into the water dressed in their cloth diapers and rubber pants. We ran down and collected them, then headed home to get the story from Mom.
“They weren’t tired,” she said, “and wanted to go back to the beach. So I pointed them in the right direction and hoped they’d find you.”
This meant walking 5 blocks (and making two correct turns), climbing a big dune (paved), and walking down 100 concrete steps to the sand where we were sitting amidst many others. Somehow these little ones did that, though it was unsettling watching them walk into the water unaccompanied.
But then again, it was typical Mom. When we asked if she’d been worried they might not make it, she said, “Oh, but they did.”
This grandma was a risk-taker. She’d sent them off “hoping” they’d reach the beach and find us, but if not, “hoping” another mother would step in and help. And behind all of that shaky logic, she believed Julia and Nelson had guardian angels watching over them.
God is not a risk-taker like Mom was. He doesn’t have to be, because he’s omniscient. He’s 100% capable of watching over children because his future knowledge is complete. Mom “hoped” everything would work out, but she wasn’t sure. God, on the other hand, is always sure. And he has legions of angels to do his bidding.
As for that little gang of young swimmers I saw today, I watched for quite a while. Somewhere an adult was probably “hoping” they’d be OK at the beach, and amazingly, it all worked out fine.
“Be careful that you never despise a single one of these little ones — for I tell you that they have angels who see my Father’s face continually in Heaven.” (Matthew 18:10)
