Rearview Mirror

Today, Sadie and I dropped Abigail off at preschool and then Mama had a hankerin' for an Egg McMuffin, so we drove to Mickey D's. As we were driving, I looked in the rearview mirror at my sweet, chubby-cheeked seven (!!!)-month-old baby girl. She was mellow, watching the morning raindrops hit the rear windshield. She has one of those handy little mirrors on the backseat so I can gaze at her while she is still rear-facing in her carseat. We love that little mirror. We glance back to see her sleep, look out the window, chew on a toy, laugh like crazy at her big sis in the seat next to her. It is precious to watch her.

Funny thing is, she doesn't know we are watching her. Since she is facing the back seat, all she knows is what she can see in front of her or to each side. She doesn't know that she is always in our gaze because she can't see us. According to normal infant development, she hasn't even yet reached the age where object permanence has set in....she doesn't see us, so we simply aren't there.

Most days, some times several times a day, we strap her into that carseat and she looks up at us with a big grin, now sporting two tiny pearly teeth. We close the car door and hop in the front seat to drive, and we are out of her gaze, so she doesn't realize we are still there.

Today as we drove, I turned off the radio and said something that makes her smile every single time she hears it (it's really the silly way I say it that does it). "Mama. Loooooooooves. Sadie." I could see her little head in the mirror, looking all over for me. She grinned. She heard my voice and knew I was there....somewhere. She just wasn't sure where.

It made me realize that we are always in the gaze of our Father God, even when we may not be able to see Him. We go about our day, too often not realizing that He is right there with us the whole time, watching us, delighting in us. And then sometimes, the noise of the world is turned off for a moment, and we hear Him say to our souls "I love you." We smile...we look for Him...and He never left.

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."
Genesis 16:13