I found myself in a parenting conversation this past weekend when the term “helicopter parent” was brought up. A friend was worried that her other friend was becoming “one of those” because “all she does is hover over her kids.” When I asked what her hovering looks like, my friend said, “She stands by and watches. Her eyes are always on them. She’s always one step away.” When I asked if she’s the interfering type, my friend said, “No. She only gets involved when she’s needed, but’s she’s definitely the hovering type.”
You can imagine how hard I laughed when I read Genesis 1 to my boys later that evening.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
As if perfectly scripted, my older son asked what hovering means, and thanks to my earlier conversation I knew exactly what to say.
It means the Spirit of God is always standing close.
He’s always watching.
He’s always protecting.
His eyes are always on us.
He’s only ever a step away.
I guess you could think of God like a helicopter. He’s always hovering over His kids to make sure we’re alright.
My kids thought it was coolest thing ever.
To be honest, so did I.
I felt immense gratitude that the God of this universe is a helicopter parent to me, to you, to all of us because He cares THAT much.
“He hovers over our chaos and disorder – our pain, uncertainty of our future, betrayal, financial challenges, disorder, deceit, and fear – he brings out of them the ordered design that he wants for us and that he intended from the very beginning of the world.” –John I. Snyder
Makes you pause in appreciation, doesn’t it?
Aren’t you so thankful that the Savior of your soul is “one of those?”
“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night – but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”
-Psalm 139:7-12
