Ears to Hear

Tonight as I rocked my sweet little girl, I fought the urge to turn on the TV and both of us vegg into sleepytown. Instead, I snuggled her close, face to face with her blankie to her nose and her thumb in her mouth(yes, she still sucks her thumb!). Ever since she figured out that she could conversate, Caroline has loved to lay down with me and say, "Mommy, yet's tawk." In a house where we are outnumbered by males, we once again gladly cuddled close for some girl talk. After she so kindly informed me that my breath was stinky, I turned my head slightly to give her nose some relief and began talking with her about various things. I love to watch her eyes as she talks and see all the wonder that flies through the mind of a five year old with regard to what many would consider to be the most mundane of subjects.
As I squeezed her tight and told her I loved her so, so, so, so, so, so much(this is her favorite thing to say and write to me as of late), I said,"Caroline, do you know who loves you the most? Do you know who loves you even more than Mommy?" She looked at me, a bit confused that I had asked a question with such and obvious answer and said, "Yes! God!".
Determined to make our "tawk" productive and have a teachable moment, I quickly said, "Yep, you're right...but do you know why?"
She looked at me rather unimpressed, cutting her eyes in my direction and said with her facial expression alone, "Nope, but I am sure you're gonna tell me." So being a mother who hates to disappoint, I proceeded , "Because He made you. He created you. He put every piece and part of you together so you would be just the way you are."
I had finally sparked her interest. Caroline thought for a moment and then said, "Which part did He put together first?...was it my eyes?" Chuckling at the unexpected but poignant question, I said that I did not know and instead asked her what she thought.
Without hesitation she gave her final answer, "My ears."
"Why?" I asked, thinking ahead to the wisest possible answer and explanation I could give her once she finished what she had to say.
She looked at me with those big brown eyes, momentarily stopped sucking her thumb and said with full assurance,
"Because He wants me to hear and to listen to what He has to say."
As Caroline snuggled back into my chest and closed her eyes to go to sleep, it was as if she had merely repeated and then rested in a fact that she had always known...a fact she was created to know. And I sat in a stunned silence in that moment I had deemed "teachable"...a moment that a mommy had intended to turn into a teachable moment for her little girl, but what was actually a moment that the Father intended to be a teachable moment for His little girl...me.
Thank you Abba. I hear You loud and clear. Lesson learned.

“Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before our Maker;
for He is our God and we are the people of
His pasture, the flock under His care.
Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”
Psalm 95:6-8

“Does He who implanted the ear not hear?
Does He who formed the eye not see?...
For the Lord will not reject His people; He will never forsake His inheritance.”
Psalm 94: 9, 14