All Done

There was a time when I hardly mentioned my family life.  It appears as though every other post has to mention someone in the Dryden Household.  Ho hum.

I cannot quite put my finger on it, but with the development of Zoë Dryden – our third daughter – who has only recently turned 2 years old, I’ve been all the more intrigued by the lessons I learn from being a father and seeing life as a child.

At two years of age Zoë, aka Zozoz (cos not everyone has the two dots over the ‘e’) can string some sentences together and is aware of some words that we’re saying and is able to copy some of the things we say.  Of course she doesn’t get it right in copying us.  So she gets Abi, short for Abigail our second daughter, but Deborah she calls ‘Bebra’, which is brilliant.

As a demanding little madam that she is, and I’m sure she didn’t get that from her mother (… cough, cough, prayer of forgiveness for bearing false witness) she knows how to get my attention when it comes to the important things in life like getting something to eat or even more importantly when it’s time for ‘hot choc-late’. (To be fair, she will also say ‘please’ when prompted.)  Eventually I of course have to bow to the deeds of Zoë and make her ‘hot choc-late’.  When I’ve done that and handed it to her, she will sit contentedly and drink from her cup.  She will take her time, and I will watch amused and fascinated with the contentment with which she drinks her precious ‘hot choc-late’.  Then at its completion she will utter one of the first phrases she mastered by herself and can say without prompting.

All done.

Often it will just be that, sometimes it’s ‘All done, Daddy.’  Either way it is a beautiful thing to behold – she already said ‘tank you, Daddy’ when she took the cup, but now it’s finished, with a smile on her face, she will hold out the cup waiting for her servant to remove it and pick her up again to put her on her feet to contemplate more of her vast domain.

I relate this, not just to give you the image of cute baby, drinking hot chocolate and then smiling and saying all done.

My youngest daughter’s announcement reminded me of the blessed consolation followers of Christ have.

As I walked along a road to a bus it occurred to me that this will be what happens in the end with the fullness of the Kingdom on earth.  Jesus saying ‘It Is Finished’ at the cross echoes to that point where He wipes every tear from our eyes and there will be an end to suffering, pain, grief, sin, sickness and death. Once all these are completely eliminated and He rules with His Bride by His side in the new heavens and new earth, it will signify that all things are completed.

All done.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd