Do You See Me?

In tenth grade our daughter decided to become a rugby player. Our sweet, creative, incredibly dramatic daughter who is not terribly athletic wanted to play a violent game that we knew little about. We had some reservations, but went to the team meeting and entertained the idea. Somehow she convinced us that rugby was her sport, and she began practicing, learning how to be tough and strategic within a team.

Several weeks went by and our girl was an actual rugby player, on the field in a real game! As her parents, we stood on the sidelines at each game and cheered and cringed while watching young women work very hard to move an odd-shaped ball down the field. Once, we witnessed our sweet whimsical daughter make a tackle that would make any football player proud, leaving the opponent down on the ground for a few minutes.

When the game was over, our warrior ran towards us and literally jumped into her Dad’s arms while screaming, “Did you see me?” I can still hear the crack in her voice as she asked the question, it was so important to her at that moment. We both told her about it from our perspectives, proving that we had seen every second of her gamesmanship.

We all want to be seen. Over the years our children have asked this same question, but often in different ways; sometimes they act out, are hilarious, are sullen, are too big and loud for the room to contain them, or move around the edges of that same room, daring us to notice.

As parents, it’s our job to see our children when they excel and when they fail, but also in the everyday muddling of life. As believers, it’s our responsibility to see those that God has placed in our lives at work, while running errands and within our spheres of influence. While talking with these people, let the question rise up, Do you see me? Then do everything you can to prove that you do.