The Kiddy Pool: "Thank You, God" — TV Put into Perspective

Last updated on: November 21, 2011 at 11:20 am by Erin Wyble Newcomb

The Kiddy Pool: "Thank You, God" — TV Put into Perspective 2011-11-21T11:20:16-07:00 Erin Wyble Newcomb

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It finally happened: Our 10-year-old, cathode-ray television, complete with VHS player, broke. To be fair, the VHS player stopped working a couple of years ago, but you could still make out about half the picture even with the static. We decided it was time for a little pre-Thanksgiving shopping, in spite of all of the enticing Black Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday ads. We thought it might be nice to actually see the Thanksgiving Day parade and even read the scores of football games. So all three of us piled into the car and headed to our local big box store to find a reasonably priced TV that wouldn’t dominate our entire living room.

There we were, bundled up and strapped in, my husband trying to navigate an already-insane parking situation while I offered unheeded suggestions about where to park. Our daughter sat in her car seat, happily singing and muttering to herself. All of a sudden, amidst the confusion, we heard her clearly say, “Thank you, God, for loving us. Amen.” It sort of put the whole parking lot chaos, TV-buying mission into perspective. At first my husband looked a little sheepish. Our daughter basically took that line verbatim from his bedtime prayers.

“I need more variety in my prayers,” he mused.

“No way,” I countered. “If you think about it, if there’s only one thing she remembers us teaching her about God, isn’t that the one you want it to be?”

He agreed and parked the car, and we went in and got our new TV. So we can see the scores of the football games now, and we’ll be able to watch the parade together on Thanksgiving morning. I’m so excited to see the floats with my daughter as we cuddle up in our pajamas and eat cinnamon rolls. I can already smell the scent of turkey wafting in from the kitchen. But most of all, I am so excited that my little girl is learning how much God loves us. I am so thankful that even in all the ways I fall short as a person and a parent, she’s getting that lesson. The best I can do is repeat that same simple statement like my husband and daughter and say thank you, God, for loving us. Amen.

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