My little boy's hair was starting to look a little shaggy, so I gave him a haircut at the kitchen table. Without the benefit of one of those smocks they have you wear at professional hair cutter places, his hair ended up all over the floor, all over the chair, all over the table, and all over him.
It was time for a bath.
Normally this little boy loves baths. He's two and a half--what's not to love about a bath? He doesn't even mind if the water is cold. Because--it's WATER!!!
But this time he was covered in hair, and that hair had to come off. Sometimes I let him go without shampooing, but this was not going to be one of those times. We needed to seriously scrub this kid's hair. If we didn't, it would be itchy and disgusting for him.
Of course, being only two and a half, he didn't understand. He glared at me while I shampooed him, but the worst was yet to come.
Rinsing is the worst.
"Look up!" I told him, but he didn't trust me. To him, it seemed that if he dared to look up, he'd get shampooey water in his eyes--when in reality, if he looked up, I could shield his eyes and protect his face as I rinsed his hair out.
After several attempts at persuasion, I finally just gave up and rinsed his hair with his face pointing downward. Yes, he got suds in his eyes. I know it couldn't have hurt that bad because it was pH-balanced baby wash that is practically meant to get in your baby's eyes. But this child raged anyway. I'm sure he felt betrayed: his darling momma intentionally got sudsy water in his eyes!
Even worse: that darling momma had told him to look into the water as she poured!
He just didn't understand.
As I dried him off, I had to wonder: how often does God tell us to look up so he can clean us, protect us, and bless us? How often do we look down instead, out of fear that instead of protecting our eyes, God will fail us and allow us to get hurt?
I know that God wants us to look up. He will always shield us and protect us if we follow His instructions. It's only when we disobey that we end up with the proverbial shampoo in our eyes. We might rage against Him while our eyes sting, but all the while He just shakes His head at us, wishing that we'd had the faith to look up the first time He asked, so He could have washed us and kept us safe.
I know that as we put out faith in God and trust Him no matter what, even the commandments we don't understand will lead to blessings in our lives.
3 Nephi 10:5-6: And again, ahow oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.
6 O ye house of Israel whom I have aspared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and breturn unto me with full purpose of cheart.How has God told you to look up? What blessings have you experienced by trusting God the first time He asks?
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