Faith was 6 years old. It was Sunday morning and she had a plan. She was going to have the tea party to end all tea parties in the back yard! She started gathering her play tea set together. Mom was folding clothes in the back bedroom. Dad walked through the kitchen as she was looking through drawers for something extra fancy. Excitedly, she started to pull a bright, white lace tablecloth from one drawer. That would be just the thing to make her tea party the fanciest ever! “I wouldn’t do that, Faith,” Dad said as he headed out to the garage, “That is Mom’s favorite. It is very special to her. She’ll be very upset when it gets dirty in the back yard.”
Faith heard the door shut. She paused a moment, then pulled the tablecloth out of the drawer and took it with her.
What fun she had! She served Koolaid tea to herself and her dolls. She made nice, round mud cookies, carefully letting them dry before putting two by each teacup. Hours later, she pulled the tablecloth from the table and took it to the kitchen to put it back in the drawer.
“Whaaaaa! What are those brown circles all over my favorite tablecloth!” Mom hollered,”and what about those pink drops all over it! Faith! AARGH!”
Dad heard the commotion over the sound of the saw in the garage. Shutting off the saw, he went out the side door and went to the back yard and sat down on the ground behind a very large oak tree. A minute later, he hear hiccuping sobs and running bare feet coming across the yard. Dad pulled her onto his lab and wrapped his arms around her.
“Mom… was crying,” she said between sobs, “she was…so… sad! How… did you know … it would get… dirty? Why were you… sitting… back here when I… came… out?
“I know things about little girls,” Dad said, as he pulled her closer. “I know things about Moms, too. Faith, I hoped that you would trust me to know what’s best for you, and what will keep you safe and happy. Can you trust me now?” he asked gently.
“I trust you, Dad,” Faith said as she buried her face in his shoulder. She listened and smiled as he whispered in her ear how much he loved her. She nodded her head as he told her what she needed to do to make things right with Mom.
That evening, Faith slouched in her chair during family worship. She rolled her eyes as Dad read something from the book of Daniel.
“Time of distress.. sleep in the dust…a time, times, and half a time….sacrifice, 1290 days…” Dad read. She rolled her eyes. Dad looked up from the Bible with a questioning look.
“Dad, that stuff is so weird. Can’t you just read a story? It doesn’t make any sense to me,” she complained.
“Faith, come sit in my lap for a minute.” As she settled in, Dad continued,”Do you remember what I said to you this afternoon about trusting me?” Faith nodded. “God knows things about little girls, and about Moms and Dads, too. He knows what will happen in the future, much more that your Dad does. Even if you don’t understand yet what all those confusing words mean, what you need to know is….God is saying that He loves you, He knows what will happen next, and we can trust Him.”
“Let’s trust Him, Dad,” Faith said as she settled in for a long hug.
-shared as a children’s story in Ukiah yesterday.