How being a parent helped me better understand God

In prayer, we consistently call upon God as “Father.” Throughout the Bible, there are many images of God as a loving parent, comparing His love to that of both a father (Luke 11) and mother (Isaiah 49:15.)

Becoming a mother has opened my eyes to just how much of children we truly are in the eyes of God. The interactions I have with my son on a daily basis have offered true insight into the relationship between God and man. There’s a sense of immeasurable love for my child, and a desire to keep him safe from any sadness or danger. I also have a better sense than he does about what’s best for him. But more than once, my little boy has inspired the following thoughts about how I, too, am just a child:

God probably laughs at us… a lot. Have you ever seen those “toddler logic” memes? That’s us. God’s ways are not our ways and oftentimes we aren’t capable of understanding the bigger picture. Any adult who has watched a baby try to eat a shoe, for example, knows why they probably shouldn’t do this because they can see further implications of that particular event: they could hurt their gums, swallow dirt and get sick, or choke on an aglet. So we take the shoe away, and of course the baby starts to scream and cry, because they can’t understand anything except that they had a shoe before and now they don’t. And you know what? It’s kind of hilarious- not in a malicious way, but an endearing manner. Watching a baby get upset over not getting to eat a shoe is funny. Sure, I’m going to comfort my child because he’s sad he doesn’t have a shoe anymore, but I’m going to laugh about it too.

We don’t know how to communicate with Him very well. Not too long ago I was watching an old home video where I was about 2 years old. I called to my mother and it sounded mostly like babble, but my mother knew exactly what I was asking for. “How did you even understand that?” I asked in amazement. “I’m your mother,” she shrugged in response.

I imagine it’s pretty similar when we talk to God. In the long run, a lot of our prayers probably seem like nonsense, but God knows us and knows our hearts. He can communicate with us, but we are not too great at interpreting it, nor are we awesome at communicating with Him. I mean, probably 9 times out of 10, we are crying to get some attention. We babble nonsense. We ask for the wrong thing. We throw tantrums when we are told “no.” While these techniques may be effective for grabbing attention, we all know that we need to grow and mature a little if we want to have true dialogue with God.

We don’t know how to value the gifts we are given. I can give my son a brand new toy, and in about 3 seconds it’s dropped on the ground and he’s concerning himself with a dirty napkin that fell on the floor or some such thing. I try to pick out toys that will inspire him to grow stronger physically and mentally, but he’s too busy being happy with a trivial thing. We, too, get distracted by earthly things and forget that God is giving us gifts and graces to grow in holiness. Sometimes we just aren’t interested, and God can’t force us to be interested, either.

Sometimes we need to learn things on our own. This is not to say that God abandons us! I remain present to my frustrated and whining child, but he needs to learn that square blocks do not fit into circle holes. Likewise, often we get deeply frustrated with our situations in life. God hasn’t left us, but He does desire us to learn from situations and hopefully choose virtue and grace as a result. Conversely, sometimes we reject help from God to try to do things on our own, and knowing that our stubborn selves need to experience trial and error, God throws up His hands and lets us do our own thing. He remains ever present and watchful, though.

We are dreadful at staying clean. That’s the reality of our fallen, sinful state. Not only that, we can’t depend upon ourselves to get clean. We need God to do it for us. We rely on Him to cleanse us, change us, clothe us anew. Despite our constant need for this, God never loves us any less.

Also, being cleansed requires our cooperation. Have you ever tried changing the diaper of an unwilling baby? More than once, I’ve had a baby roll over and escape naked while I grabbed a few wipes. It’s a pretty frustrating process. We need to cooperate with God’s grace in order that our sins be forgiven.

God does far more than just feed us. This is truly one of my favorite meditations as a mother. Feeding my child is not simply a matter of providing food, but true nourishment. It’s a source of comfort. It’s an intimate and beautiful thing that encourages a deeper bond. My son loves to reach out and touch my face while we gaze lovingly at one another.

This is the beauty of the Eucharist. God gives us His Body that we can be nourished, comforted, and not only grow closer to Him, but have a true exchange of love. Holy Communion is far and away the most important aspect of our relationship with God- it's our way to reach out to Him.

What’s perhaps most beautiful is that God knows exactly what it means to be an infant, which is probably the source of His immense patience with us in our shortcomings. He humbled Himself to take on our nature and become a little child. He had to learn how to walk and talk as well. Thinking of myself as a child helps me to focus on the ways in which I need to grow, but also reminds me of the beauty of God's relationship to man. And to think that my love for my child is simply a drop in the ocean compared to God’s love for us!

Other Catholic parents: What kind of reflections on God has your child inspired?