When it became loose a few days ago, he was very excited. The rest of us shared his excitement, and his siblings told him what to expect, admonished him not to swallow it, told him it would bleed a little but would be okay, etc.
When it actually came out he wasn't happy with the way his mouth felt. Eating breakfast was weird. He dripped some milk through the tooth hole. The rest of us were very excited for him, and tried to spark some enthusiasm for this major milestone, but he would have none of it. He was deeply bothered by the new feeling.
In the spirit of my commitment this year to be all here, I pulled Little Man onto my lap and really listened to him. He was troubled. He wasn't expecting it to feel so different. Couldn't he just put the tooth back in?
I acknowledged his feelings. It was different. But now that the tooth was out, we couldn't put it back in. The new tooth would be growing in its place and would need that space. I told him that change is always hard because it's different. But different doesn't always mean bad. It just means ... different. I assured him he would slowly get used to his new mouth. He would adjust to his new normal. I kissed him and put him down. He ran off happily.
And then it hit me.
I was preaching to myself. Change is hard (loss of a job, church turmoil, foot pain ~ fill in the blanks with your own changes) because it's different. I would slowly get used to the changes. I would adjust to the new normal, learn how to make compensations. And then I realized I had forgotten to tell him the most important thing of all...
God never changes.
We can count on Him being the same as He has always been. Patient, forgiving, gracious, full of love, merciful, just, good, immoveable. His unchanging nature anchors us as we go through all the changes that life throws at us. No change is too big for Him to handle, and no change is too small for Him to notice.
Even lost teeth.
"Lord God, thank you for being who you are and never changing. Help me to cling to You through all the changes we are facing, and will face. Thank you that nothing, NO THING can separate me from Your love. I love you. Amen."
Change is hard - bless his sweet heart. My little guy, age 6, almost 7 lost 1 tooth just before Thanksgiving and another right at Christmas. They're growing up.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting that he lost a top tooth first.
ReplyDeletePrincess L has lost four teeth now - has been singing "All I want for Christmas..." for a while now with the top two gone. Princess M wants so badly to lose a tooth too. She tells us at almost every meal, "I loose a tooth too - see?" Then she wiggles about three different teeth trying to get them to move. We also have to read the book "Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth" whenever anyone in the family has a loose tooth. Tell him the toothless look makes him look distinguished. Blessings.
Such a bittersweet milestone. :-) You did a great job with him! Change is hard though what a sweet blessing to know that God never does change.
ReplyDeleteHugs to you!
I learned recently that top teeth take a long time to come in, thus the origin of the song. FM#3 lost both of his top teeth (one with some help from FM#2) before either bottom tooth and yet the bottom teeth were both in first. His second top tooth is just beginning to emerge. How did I not notice this with the others? Oh, that's right FM#2 got his top two teeth pulled early because of a fall and the DP, hmmm, I don't remember. Imagine that. That part of my life is a blur. :-)
ReplyDeletelove the way you are really are living in the moment and seeing how you are putting that into practice!
ReplyDelete