Chita

My daughter Jubilee is a year and 9 months. She is slowly adding to her vocabulary and one of her newest words is, "chita" which means sit down in Creole. She enjoys telling her brothers to chita at the table, or asking me to chita and read books to her.  I love seeing the excitement on her face knowing she can FINALLY communicate what she wants instead of us guessing, and often misunderstanding her demands requests.

I have to add that Jubilee is fiercely independent, and has been since day one. She is confidant, and courageous. She isn't afraid of meeting new people, or being in new environments. She's basically fearless, which as a mom is sometimes extremely scary! She barely lets me do anything for her, without at least trying first on her own. She doesn't want to hold anyones hand, refuses to cuddle and barely even gives hugs.

The other day I lay her down for her nap and she started crying and saying chita over and over. I told her she couldn't chita now, it was time for a nap. She cried harder saying chita while pointing to the chair in her room. She didn't seem to want to be picked up, but instead seemed to want me to sit down in the chair, which I did. The moment I sat down she lay down and stopped crying. Content knowing I was with her she silently watched me from the crib for a few minutes before she rolled over and fell asleep. This has happened a handful of times since. She doesn't do it everyday, but sometimes she just needs to know I'm with her, that I will stay by her side until she is ready to roll over and give in to sleep.

Isn't this just like us in our walk with the Lord? I, like Jubilee, am fiercely independent. I have learned to walk into scary situations confidently, I don't really need someone to hold my hand. I've learned to trust the Lord when I feel Him and when I don't, because I know He is always there regardless of what I feel.

But sometimes, sometimes I just need Him to come and chita with me. I need Him to pull me into his loving presence for a while before He leads me back out into the world. 

Looking back on my life I can see the many times the Lord has pulled me in, and those tender moments are the ones that prepared me for what came next. Eventually we will be led out into the world again. And as we face our fears and grow in our faith we can trust and believe that his presence is always with us.

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