If I mentioned a “banana friend,” most of you would wonder what in the world I was talking about. But I can say those words to my 3-year-old granddaughter, Ava, and she’d know immediately.
So what’s a banana friend? It was a spur-of-the-moment invention one day when Ava had been at my house. When her daddy came to get her, she noticed the basket of fruit on the counter and asked if she could take a banana home with her.
I told her she could and gathered a few other treats for her to take as well. And then I noticed Ava tearing up because she didn’t want to leave. Oh my goodness, I can’t handle grandbaby tears! So I picked up the banana and said, “Ava, would you like a banana friend to take home with you?”
Her attention was quickly averted. “Yeaaaah,” she said. So I grabbed a pen and drew a little stick figure with pigtails that would look like her. After I finished that, she said, “I need a tower.” So I drew a tower. Then she needed a prince.
By the time we were done, there wasn’t an inch of the banana friend without artwork. Her little face was happy when she left that day. That made my face happy as well.
Sometimes Ava’s daddy drops by without her. I usually send her a surprise, and often, I decorate a banana friend to put in the bag–a sweet reminder that Grandmama cares.
You know what touches my heart? The God who made the universe loves us enough that He sends sweet reminders that He cares. Mine don’t come in the form of a banana friend, but they’ve been precious to me all the same.
One of those wonderful just-between-us moments happened a number of years ago. I was heading out on a trip and was worried about leaving my sons for a week. I drove through our neighborhood, and as I prepared to turn on the main road, a big deer ran across the road in front of me.
We’d lived in the country for 20 years and I’d always wanted to see one in the wild, but never had before that day. And then as the deer’s hooves cleared the pavement, it was as if God whispered, “That was from Me, a reminder that I care.” A peace settled over me about my trip.
That’s happened numerous times through the years during difficult days. Recently, I was going through a hard time when I felt so overwhelmed. I whispered, “God, could you send me a reminder that You care? Could you send me a deer today?”
I hadn’t seen one in many weeks, but when I looked out the window a few minutes later, a huge buck was standing in the backyard. I was stunned.
When I walked closer to the window, I realized that he wasn’t alone. A mama deer and her babies were also in the yard. Not one, but five deer were out there, and they hung around for a long time so I could watch them.
I felt God’s presence in such an amazing way that day, as if He’d wrapped me in His arms and said, “It’s going to be okay. I’ve got this.”
Friends, I don’t know what you’re going through, but I know God loves you, and I know that He will be “enough” for whatever situations you face. Tried and proven.
Look around you today and I know you’ll discover some sweet reminders that He cares.
Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (I Peter 5:7)
