Blinking to the Mainland.

Tonight's devo with the daughter left me amazed again and wondering who the adult is. She is such an old soul! Tonight we shared how tough it can be to make wise decisions. We talked about the choice to always tell the truth, and how hard it is to be kind to our bullies. Amidst this conversation, she told me about one of the themes in her favorite fairy book series. She is a big fan of fairies. One of the first sentences she ever wrote, at the age of three, was a prayer to God in a little green diary asking to fly. I think that is when her fascination with fairies began. I will keep that diary forever.

In this particular series, the fairies can "blink to the mainland" and suddenly be either home in Neverland or on earth making flowers bloom or intricate snow flakes fall. Tonight my little one said, "life would be so much easier if we could just 'blink to the mainland' and be in heaven. Then I wouldn't have to face making anymore bad decisions."

I understand how she feels. Life would truly be great if we could blink away our struggles and hide in the arms of the Father. Therein lies the great irony. We can. When we 'blink to the mainland' we do not immediately travel across time and space to escape our burdens. When we 'blink to the mainland' we can, however, consider the wealth and beauty that awaits us there. We can hand our struggles over to the creator. We can faithfully make decisions that will lead us to our mainland someday.

I tried to convey this idea to my eight year old. She didn't really buy it, but I hope someday she'll understand. For now, I will attempt to paint vivid pictures of a peace-filled mainland without bullies, without mistakes. I will, though feebly, describe our mainland of never ending beauty where we can explore and fly together with new fairy wings that never tire. I eagerly await the day when she and I 'blink to the mainland' together forever.