This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up where we write for 5 minutes on a one-word without heavy editing and see what happens. Read all of today’s post here.
Like any typical American parents, we were armed with our video camera (this was in the days before cell phones with cameras) and waiting expectantly for our sweet tow-headed 4-year-old boy to appear on the stage for his end-of-year performance for Mom’s Day Out.
When he came out with his classmates, dressed in his green collared shirt and cute khaki pants, I looked through the viewfinder of the camera to make sure I could get him in focus before things began.
What I noticed as I watched him through that lens was that he was looking all around the crowded church sanctuary, searching for us. I could read his little lips saying, “Where ARE they?” as his gaze grew concerned. David and I waved our arms and halfway stood trying to get his attention, but the lights were too bright on the stage, and there were too many bodies in the auditorium.
He couldn’t see us.
Once the music started, he was happy singing along and doing the hand motions as he’d been taught, and I recorded him and clapped when it was done. But my heart was a little sad. I so wanted him to know that we were watching him. That we were there. That we cared.
Now, 18 years later, that little 4-year-old is 22 and searching for who he is. During a crisis time just a few months ago, I wrote him a letter reminding him of that night all those years ago and asking him, “Do you see us now? Do you know that we see you, that we’re here for you, that we love you?”
Hagar gave God the name El Roi in Genesis 16:13, “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.’”
Compelled 
So beautifully written! The precious gift of a momma’s heart, and the precious gift we can give our kiddos as we remind them that they are seen.
Thank you, Becky! Our kiddos, and ourselves!
Thank you for the reminder that God sees me. I sometimes forget that in the ordinary moments of every day life. I am stopping by from Five Minute Friday.
Thanks for stopping by 😊 Always good to remember that He never takes His eyes off of us!
Stephanie, your post reminded me of a Sunday long ago when our daughter was singing her first solo at church in kids’ choir. I went to see her, having just given birth to her baby sister a few days before, and I sat in a different location than I normally did. She was looking for me and never saw me. She did fine, but I went home and cried! Currently, she is not actively looking for God, so this was a good reminder that He sees her!
It’s hard to watch them struggle, isn’t it? But sometimes they need to go through that process. Thanks, Lorna.