All children crave the full attention of both parents, especially when other children are around. “Watch me! Watch me again! Watch me now! Watch me this time!”
Since most families have multiple children, each has to figure out how to rise above the others in order to get the one-on-one attention they need. Some do it by raising their volume: “WATCH ME!” Others use repetition: “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Still others get physical, tugging at mommy or poking at daddy.
While visiting my British relatives recently, I enjoyed watching yet another way to get focused attention: raising the pitch. Three year old Evelyn, a little girl with 3 brothers, has learned how not to get lost in the tussle for parental attention: she talks in a higher range than anyone else.
Each morning during my visit, as I listened to Hans coaching his children through the morning routine, there was no mistaking Evelyn’s voice. It’s a mystery how she hits such conversational high notes, and if it weren’t for her well-pronounced words, she could pass for a songbird. But by using a very high voice, she accomplishes her goal, which is to be acknowledged by the grown-ups in her life.
It’s comforting to know that when we want God’s attention, none of us has to shout, “Watch me!” He’s watching ‘round the clock already, and not only that but is listening, too, as if each of us is his only child. How nice to know we don’t have to raise our volume, our frequency, or our pitch to coax him to look our way.
During my last breakfast with the British Nymans, three year old Thomas said, “Daddy, I would like a banana.”
As Hans reached for the fruit bowl, Thomas changed his mind. “I mean a nectarine.”
“Which is it?” Hans said.
“A banana.”
Then, wanting to hold his daddy’s attention a while longer, he pushed his banana away and said, “But I want a nectarine.”
“You asked for a banana,” Hans said, sliding the banana back to him, “and that’s what you’ll eat.”
As Thomas began to object, Evelyn chimed in, using her highest songbird voice, and said, “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.”
Evelyn’s intention was to take the parental focus off Thomas and put it on herself, which she did. But without realizing it, she did something else, too. She brought God’s Word into the mix with her statement, letting us know that while God is watching and listening to us, he wants us to watch and listen to him, too.
All of us heard him that morning through the high pitched voice of a little girl. And right after that, Thomas ate his banana.
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.” (Psalm 34:15)
