Because of my back surgery, we’ve had to be careful allowing my 2 1/2 year old grandson Raphael near me. Yet, he doesn’t realize that he can’t climb all over me and yesterday he ran toward me fully intending to jump onto me. We all had to yell, “no, no, no…” Thankfully, he stopped.

But the look on his face was telling. Because even though I was smiling, the “no” message was negative. Grandma is a no-no. Don’t touch! Don’t go near. The look on Raffi’s face was a mixture of confusion and disappointment. And I felt bad because he had to conclude that what he was doing was wrong. He was doing a no-no and got scolded for it. But of course, it wasn’t about him at all. It was about my safety. He hadn’t done anything wrong but we had to react as if he was doing something wrong.

I felt so sad.

How do you try to communicate to a toddler not to rambunctiously approach me? We had to say, “Grandma is broken” and “grandma has an owee.” “Be gentle.”

Although the correlation has much to lack, it did make me wonder whether God is a no-no for some people. Were they given messages about God in their childhood that made God seem “broken” or incapable or unapproachable? Or when we approached God as a child, did we feel like someone was scolding us and we thought it was wrong to jump to Him or ask for His help?

I think that God feels even more sadness than I felt if anyone feels He is dangerous to approach. How sad. I’m trusting that when I can become an active grandma again, that any wrong ideas Raffi has about my availability will disappear. And I believe with all my heart that God wants to dispel any lies someone has about Him.

Oh Lord, reveal the truth about yourself–your goodness, availability, power and love. Thank you that you are not injured and we can throw ourselves upon you. You welcome it!