Copy cat

As do most young children they copy adults.  Since Asher is near us and often, we have noticed that he copies, that is, he repeats a word or a gesture that he hears or sees from us.  Not unusual.

I remember sitting on the deck (not on a chair on the deck) such that my feet touched the sidewalk.  From there I thought to lower myself to his level while he rode his scooter.

It wasn't long before he got off his scooter and sat down next to me.

On another occasion at the local park while we played on the climbing apparatus, I paused to prop myself in a squatting position against the equipment.  Again, a minute or so later there he was squatting nearby in a similar position.  Copy cat.

This morning I had closed myself in an upstairs room for some quiet reflection with my Bible.  As a result I was missing from my place at the table eating porridge, though I had informed him where I would be and what I would be doing.  After about 20-25 minutes, I noted his footsteps on the stairs.  Then he turned the handle and entered as I made room for him on the loveseat.  He was carrying "my bible", a small, green Gideon's New Testament.

"Oh, are you reading your Bible too, Asher?"
"Yes."

"Shall we read from your Bible?"  I quickly turned to Luke 4, though I didn't need to read it, I realize.  I paraphrased the incident where Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law and ended with, "Immediately, she was better.  She got up and fixed supper for everyone."

Not sure that he got the facts completely in hand for when Craig quizzed him subsequently, Asher's grasp of the incident was fuzzy.  More importantly, I next found Asher in another room sitting by himself holding his Bible.  Copy cat.

I would hope so.  Indeed, I hope that he copies my example and exceeds it for the rest of his life!

And I wonder:  since God's Word continues to be a lifeline of nourishment and instruction for me, whether my own offspring learned to copy my routine practice of reading and reflecting on God's Word.