Awesome Acceptance

Apathy predominated, blotting out any interest in the latest theme night at Hannah’s AWANA club.  Since it was a “just-for-fun” event without any time allocated to reciting Bible verses, I justified it would be fine to take the night off.  I craved an evening at home without any extracurricular activities.  The “Drive-in Movie” theme encouraged kids to make cars out of large cardboard boxes which they could sit in to watch a movie on the big screen in the sanctuary.  The fact that we had not prepared a car formed yet another obstacle.  By 5:30 pm, we had finished eating dinner.  Should we go without a box, make a second-rate car in a half hour, or just stay home? 

I reluctantly decided we could use a small, sturdy box we had in the garage and use minimal decorations to transform it into a mediocre car.  We found paper plates Hannah uses for crafts.  After securing them to the sides of the box for wheels, we realized they looked out of proportion.  So we trimmed the ribbed edges off to make smaller circles.  We successfully taped these onto the sides.  Hannah drew an outline of a door on one side.  I used a box cutter to slice along the outline so the door could swing open.  Two small circles cut from yellow construction paper at the front of the box represented headlights.  We nestled Hannah’s pillow into the bottom.  The small box allowed no extra space.  Hannah needed to keep her knees bent. 

I hoped the other kids would not disparage Hannah’s car.  She seemed happy and acted solicitous on the way to the church, chiding me for driving too fast or turning too hard, saying I might make the paper wheels fall off.  Even when she looked at the fantastic cars other kids had made, she did not dismiss her own.  Some of the cars incorporated huge, multiple boxes into their design, included contoured styling and spray paint, steering wheels, colorful accessories, etc.  The obvious efforts in their construction impressed me.  Unfazed, Hannah proudly set her car down among all of the others and settled into it comfortably to watch the movie and munch on snacks along with her friends. 

When we put the car back in our trunk, Hannah noticed with dismay one of the wheels had fallen off.  Distraught, she demanded we go search for it.  We retraced our steps and found it in the sanctuary, tucked like a treasure along with another clubber’s belongings.  We retrieved the wheel and carried it back to rejoin its car.  When we arrived home, Hannah continued to bubble with excitement over the car.  “It is awesome!” she enthused. 

I compared Hannah’s evaluation to my own.  Whereas all I saw when I looked at the car was a pathetic attempt, Hannah delighted in how we worked together as a team to transform a humble box into a car.  Her nonjudgmental assessment paralleled God’s consideration.  We sometimes think we are not good enough; we dwell on our insufficiencies.  Falling short of our ideals, we grow disappointed in ourselves.  But I believe God looks past these perceived imperfections and pronounces us as “Awesome!”  He lovingly accepts us without reservation.  Even at our most basic and bedraggled, we are enough.  Thank you, Hannah, for the prompt to follow our Father’s example and extend grace to ourselves on this journey of life.  I want to remember God’s unconditional love…He considers His creation awesome!