Going Up?

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I remember being in Woolworth’s Department Store as a little girl.  There was a toy department, a clothing department, fabric department and lawn department too!  My favorite area was the Soda Fountain.

You would sit in a chrome-trimmed booth or at the ice cream counter.  It was there I would order a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup.  I loved getting a scoop of ice cream in the metal serving dishes that had been kept in the freezer.

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There was one part of Woolworth’s I still remember fearing, the escalator.  Now why would a kid be afraid of the escalator?  I would always opt to walk the large staircase between the “up” escalator and the “down” escalator. 

I remember one particular time I was at Woolworth’s with my Grandpa. We were in the lawn and garden department.  Grandpa invited me to go with him to the Soda Fountain to get an ice cream.  As much as I wanted an ice cream, I realized the escalator stood between the lawn and garden department downstairs and upstairs where the Soda Fountain was.

I remember my Grandpa holding out his big hand to me.  I can see him now saying, “Can’t you trust me?”  My heart sank with fear and with sadness that I didn’t feel like I could.

How often do we see our children wrestling with, “Can I trust you?”

This week I have felt like I’ve reached out my hand to each of our children in an attempt to get them to believe me.  Believe I know better or trust me that I am considering their good. Believe me that even though they don’t know what I am trying to lead them to it is better than where they are.

We need to set the bar high.  Believe our children will trust us.  Believe our children will believe us.  We need to also recognize they may lack the communication skills to say they are frightened or embarrassed they do not want to trust us.  It is vital we make the relationship with our children paramount.

Within the context of relationship they will see we can be trusted.  They will believe we have their best interest in mind.  Our children can trust us easier if we have laid the foundation on relationship.  Within a relationship our children believe they can trust us.  They will hold our hand as we take them on the escalator leading to something better, something they will be glad they trusted us for.

How much more our Heavenly Father reaches out His hand to us?  He knows we are scared.  He recognizes our lack of understanding. He has a proverbial ice cream waiting for us, we need to grab His hand and take the escalator!