Last time I visited the grandchildren, I used a colourful shopping bag printed on the outside with pictures of flying bees. This caught the attention of my son’s partner who had recently been teaching the children about British wildlife and she called the youngest granddaughter over. Pointing to a particular flying bee, she said to the little one,” What’s this?” expecting her to reply with her newly learnt word ‘Bumblebee’.
“Grandma’s bag!” Little one replied.
“Yes, but, What’s this?” Mum persisted.
“Grandma’s bag!!!!” Two-year-old responded slightly irritated now at being asked the same question.
Mum took a deep breath. “Look closely, WHAT’S THIS?” she asked loudly now accompanied by much finger prodding on the bee picture.
Little One walked over, took over the prodding of the picture and repeated loudly, as if her mother had completely lost the plot, “GRANDMA’S BAG!!!”
Well, she was right after all. It was my bag. She was looking at the bigger picture while her Mum was obsessed with the detail.
I’m like that sometimes – obsessed with the minutiae of life, the little details – when am I going to get the washing up done? What shall I wear? Where can I buy the cheapest bananas? What shall we have for tea? I forget the big picture. Sometimes I need to stand back and get a proper perspective on life, knowing that God sees the end from the beginning. He knows what I need and will provide.
Forget the bees, recognise who owns the bag!