For real...?

If you know my youngest daughter Avery, you know humor and drama.  Being an independent and creative child, she has her own very unique perspective and strong personality to express it.  She is unafraid to ask questions and even tell you her opinion about most any topic.  Her stories are the stuff of legend.

She has one question that smokes my noggin every time she asks it.  Every now and again when we are watching TV, she turns and says 'Hey Daddy, is this for real?'  She has to ask more than you might imagine, but we do live in the reality TV age.  The question most often comes when there is something on TV that is completely off the wall or fantastical - especially if its even slightly spooky or pulse-pounding action.  She's trying to make sure what she is seeing is real or unreal since what she is seeing is beyond her perception of reality.  She is looking for reassurance that she should not be scared of something or try to do something that can harm her or others.

For the most part, I'd say her grip on reality is better than the average adult - but she still has to ask sometimes 'Is this for real?'.  She knows gravity works, she knows dad is serious when he snaps his fingers, she knows pretty well how to work people and things to her own end ~ she knows a few things, but not everything.  Her foundation is limited to her own experience and a little learning, what she's seen and heard in her few years.  When confronted with something that doesn't jive with her reality then it's time to ask.

Every single day, I deal with people and situations that are to me absolutely surreal.  Personalities, attitudes, actions and expressions that seem beyond belief and reasonable motivation.  If you know me well, you may have seen my typical reaction to these moments - I smile, eyes full of wonder, pause briefly and wade in to the deep end of whatever insanity I find myself confronted with.  I've been told it's unnerving to most folks and have found it generally pacifies most encounters that might otherwise become an extreme conflict.  

I recently caught myself in that pause and figured out I was actually asking something in my soul and awaiting the response.  It is in that moment that I am able to gather my perspective, keep myself firmly footed in the reality of God's Sovereignty, and move forward without fear of doing something that will cause harm to myself or others. I know a few things, I know how the physical universe works, I know when my Heavenly Father is trying to get my attention, I know how to work with most people and processes toward a mutually good end ~ I know a few things, but not everything.  My foundation of experience and learning is limited, but it includes what many others have seen and heard since creation ~ it includes the Word of God.  Even more it includes the Spirit of God working within me to tell me what jives with reality, most often I don't even have to ask - but I do, 'Hey Daddy, is this for real?'