I'm Allergic to That

We recently went to dinner at the home of some new friends at church. Watching kids play and interact is always one of my favorite things to do. I have special fun watching the 3-5 year old playtime. They have a unique way of communicating the things they don't yet understand. Kind of like that person who tries to sing along with just about any Led Zeppelin song without the album lyrics on hand. They just kind of make words up. That makes me laugh.

Anyhow, the kids are playing together nicely when all of a sudden our 4 year old daughter comes into the room. She sighs deeply, sheepishly looks at the assembled parental units and states, "(boy's name withheld) told me that he wants to marry me...and I'm allergic to that!" Then she prances away as we sat in half disbelief and half hysterics over what we just heard. We know the odds of that coming true are very slim (especially since there are 2 other girls for whom this youngling has affections). But it was just plain funny to hear. It's making me smile now.

I think maybe God has that same kind of fun listening to us as we try to articulate the things happening to us in life we don't understand in language we can best come up with. Sometimes we're talking to him about work or our marriage or our lack of marriage or our need for a new something or other...you get the picture. We are just talking and talking and talking trying to put words to our experiences and needs. "God, the boss just said I need to move to Nebraska...I'm allergic to that!" "God, my laundry needs done...I'm allergic to that!" (this would be my personal issue).

No wonder the Bible says that, "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." God has this perfect way of knowing what we mean when we gibber jabber our way around life and the Spirit knows just how to take what we need and converse with the Father over what's best for the plans created for us. Maybe the "groans" are laughter pains. Who knows. It's simply good to know that God is concerned and conversing about the life of his children whom he loves and enjoys.