A "Real" Red Elephant, God's Faithful Love & Trust!

Today I want to share something with you once again, which I originally wrote eight years ago . . .

“My three grandsons are young; seven, four and two years old. I love these ages, because they are just the right size for time in grandma’s lap – which of course, just fills my heart with joy! I know when my own children were young, they were the same way, but as they grew up, “lap time” came to an end. So, I treasure these few years when my grandsons are young. I enjoy the things they say and do which make me laugh and I love opportunities to snuggle them in my lap. 

Because they are still young, there are times when this is more clear than others. Today I’m going to share one such time with you. My grandsons typically spend Friday night at their Poppa’s and my house for a sleepover. Last Friday, my middle grandson (four years old) brought his red elephant toy/pillow with him. It reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit, so I’m quoting a bit for you . . .

   ‘When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints an d very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’

His red elephant is, ‘Real’. It was originally fluffy and soft and really cool – three years ago when he received it – but now the tusks are worn down to just strips of fabric and the ‘fur’ is matted and worn . . . it is Real. It is loved and it is the reason his poppa and I made a 40 minute round trip last Saturday night to take it to him at his house . . . he forgot it at our house and ‘needed’ his red elephant to go to sleep. 

He had to have his red elephant with him at bedtime – while he has a great vocabulary and sounds older than he is, he really is only four! His red elephant is comforting to him at bedtime. He told me Wednesday, when I saw him, he knew his poppa and I would bring his red elephant to him. He trusts us! He was right. We love him, understand he is little and were willing to make the trip to take it to him. 

His red elephant reminds me of our relationship with God. As the years go by, we may feel like our; ‘Hair has been loved off, and our eyes drop out and we get loose in the joints and are very shabby.’ But, these things do not matter at all to God, because He loves us! Really loves us! We are Real to Him; and so are our grandchildren! 

So, if you – or your grandchildren – are feeling a bit, ‘worn, shabby or loose in the joints’, take heart! We are dearly loved by God – look at Jeremiah 33:3 – 

          I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 

And, don’t you just love how God gives us little opportunities in our day-in-day-out lives where we can point our grandchildren to Him and His great love for them? This weekend my grandsons and I are going to talk about these things – all because my grandson's Real, red elephant was left behind! 

What opportunity have you had in your day-in-day-out life to point your grandchildren to God and His great love for them?”

As I mentioned, originally I wrote this eight years ago; reading it today brought a smile to my face and reminded me of how much my grandson trusted us to love him enough to care if he had his Real, red elephant or not. He told me he was not upset at all, or concerned in the least when he discovered it was missing and remembered he left it at my house, because he knew we would bring it to him; he trusted  us to care. We talked about this and about how he is able to know God cares even more.

It is a great reminder to this grandma to remember to trust God as well!