Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Birth (infancy) (08/20/09)
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TITLE: A Holey Assignment | Previous Challenge Entry
By Coleene VanTilburg
08/27/09 -
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My boss told me one day after waiting for quite sometime for a new assignment, that he finally had one for me, and that it would be a challenge. OK, I thought, how hard could it be? I was with that missionary family for a long time in the jungles of Brazil. Then I was with this soldier while he was in the Middle East. What could be more challenging than that? Well, I would have to go, and take on a different appearance and be prepared for some rough stuff. I would accept my assignment, knowing whatever God had in mind, it would be important and that He would always be the Boss.
So, here I am, a soft, cuddly, generic, yellow receiving blanket, wrapped in a box and about to be presented to a very pregnant young woman. There were other blankets too, but I was special. Soon, I was folded nicely and placed on top of the changing table, awaiting the arrival of my special assignment.
A few weeks later, he arrived into this world. I was ready to do my job. At first, some of the other blankets were being used, but as the nights grew a little cooler, I was soon covering the little behind and shoulders of this precious little boy as he lay slumbering in his bassinette next to mom. We were so warm together and I really liked this part of my job. Soon I began to take on this tiny soul's baby smells; some good, some not so good. I would occasionally go into the washing machine and dryer...sort of like a baptism (as my Boss would say). The mommy was breast feeding and sometimes I went along too, covering and protecting. Within a few short months, his little hands were grasping and tugging at me. It gave me great joy as I felt our bonding begin.
When he was about four months old, we moved into the big crib. While there, I was surrounded by colorful stuffed animals and mobiles and balloons. The little one was definitely a thumb sucker and before long, a piece of my corner was clasped in his little chubby palm next to his sucking mouth. The sound was like music to me, so sweet. By this time, I was it. I was THE blanket, the one that went everywhere, that calmed and delighted.
I got to go on a plane to Hawaii when the boy was only one, dragged around on the black sand beaches, smelling of coconut oil lotion. There were times though when I did have a rough go of it. I can't count how many times I have been spit up on. Then he started eating real food...well you know...I was always close by getting some form of something disgusting on me. Thus the baptisms became much more frequent and I began to loose my youthful appearance. One time the mom asked the doctor, concerned about the thumb sucking and the need for me to always be around. The Doctor was very smart and told the mommy that I was a calming factor in this little boy's hyperactive life. Of course, I knew that! I eventually I got a name, "Naw-nees."
As he grew older, I was still around. By this time I had many holes and was quite frayed, but we were a team. The thumb sucking had stopped, but I was there, under his nose when he grew irritable and cranky, scared and sick, anxious and overtired. When he longed for calmness in a mind that raced with hyperactivity, my smell eased his tensions.
I know mommy and daddy appreciated me very much because sometimes things were hard for this little man. Eventually, as I he grew into a young man, I “retired" so to say, my job accomplished and I went back to heaven. God said I helped a little boy and a mommy and daddy have very sweet memories. My frayed threads remain on earth though as a reminder of God's Peace and calmness that He brings.
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