Roni, I Need You

She may be only one minute older, the result of being born via C-section, but Veronica is clearly the OLDER sister, at least in her eyes.  And, so far, Colin doesn’t seem to mind (most of the time) as she bosses him around, summons him to do her bidding, and scolds him when she thinks he is misbehaving. 

We were on our annual family retreat early in November, so we were able to closely observe this behavior pattern in our not-quite-two and a half year-old twin grandchildren.

Much of the time they play quite happily in their own area of the room.  Tension ensures, as it does with most siblings, when they both wanted the same book, the same toy, or to sit on Grandpa’s lap at the same time.  Then Roni would come out swinging and Colin would retaliate by biting or a swing of his own.  Roni tends to be a howler; Colin seems to mostly cry when he is actually hurt.  Most of the time, during this long weekend, they were pretty content to be together – no doubt having TWO grandparents to dote on them helped.

Sunday night, however, Colin had a tummy ache.  He crawled up onto an upholstered chair and lay very quietly; face down – unusual behavior for this very active, former-preemie.  Grandma began to rub his back and his tummy, which seemed to help.  All of a sudden, Colin raised his head and croaked, “Roni.”  His sister, beforehand apparently oblivious to his distress, looked up from her play, dropped her toy and came rushing to his side.  “Roni”, he croaked again.  She touched his face, touched his hair, patted his shoulder and his back, while murmuring his name several times.

I watched as his body seemed to relax under her touch - more than it had under mine.  Roni, apparently satisfied that she had worked her tiny magic, returned to her play.  A little while later Colin’s mom picked him up and cradled him like a baby before putting him to bed.

Thankfully, by morning, the distress had passed and Colin was back to his cheerful, exuberant, active self.

That was the morning we had to check out by 10am.  It did not take Bill and me long to pack up our stuff, but it takes awhile to pack up all the stuff that 2-year-old twins, and an 8-year-old, require.  I toasted Ethan one of his favorite bagels, spread it with berry cream cheese, then toasted another for the twins.  I spread the same berry cream cheese lightly on their two halves of the bagel, and cut each half into bite-sized pieces.  I placed the plate on the coffee table within easy reach of their play area, hoping this would keep them busy and out from under foot as Becki packed up.

Colin was totally engrossed in his play, but Roni would pause from time to time to pop another piece of bagel into her mouth.  She must have noticed that while her half was disappearing, Colin’s remained intact.  She picked up a piece of his bagel, whet over to where he was playing, “Colin, open your mouth.” she said in a remarkably gentle voice.

Pausing in his play, Colin looked up, opened his mouth, Roni popped the piece of bagel in and said, “Chew, Colin, chew.”  Which he did!

This continued until all of the bagel was gone.  Then Roni picked up his sippy cup which contained water, took it over to him and held it to his lips, “Drink, Colin, drink.”  Which he did!

Neither child acted as though this was anything out of the ordinary.  Both were happy and content with their roles at that moment. 

As we were driving home, I thought more about this snip of beautiful behavior that I got to witness. 

Children’s behavior is oftimes a reflection of the behavior they see in the adults around them.  Sometimes they are as self-centered as the adults they observe, but sometimes they are as gentle and caring as other adults they observe.

In Romans Paul tells us “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”  Christ tells us in several different ways that we are to “give a cup of water to those who thirst, visit those who are in prison (both literally and those who are hurting), feed those who are hungry…” and similar reminders of what it means to “love others as ourselves.”

Obviously Roni has ministered to Colin other times than just while I was observing.  It was a natural action for her and he accepted it as not unusual. 

I pray that my ministering to others will become and be as natural as Roni’s ministering to Colin is.  I pray that I will not hesitate, but stop what I am doing to meet the needs of others, without even taking a second thought.  Amen