Elephant

We took the kids to the Columbus Zoo this weekend for Wildlights.  It was beautiful as usual.  They always do a great job at the zoo.  One of the best parts was seeing the three month old tiger cubs.  They were about the size of a german shepherd which is amazing that they're that big already.  The cubs were romping around, wrestling with each other, and playing with this big stick.

One thing that I can't stop thinking about is when we were at the elephant exhibit.  I was holding Mackenzie and stood her up against the glass window.  The elephants were just walking around and she was really enjoying it.  Then, one elephant started walking from across the exhibit directly toward the window and us.  As it slowly strolled closer and closer, I could feel her grabbing me.  Of course, there's a giant, electric fence and then the glass windows, but she didn't realize that.  She thought this elephant was coming for her.  Finally, she yelled, "Daddy, hold me!"

I had two thoughts, one funny/sarcastic and one serious, which is pretty typical for me.  First was, "Yea, my daughter thinks I can stop a 6 ton animal.  I'm pretty much super-dad!"  Then I thought about what an awesome responsibility we have as parents.  She didn't run or scream which is what I would have done if I thought an elephant was after me; she just asked for her father to protect her.  Pretty cool!

This also made me think about how God, our Heavanly Father, feels when we don't ask him for protection.  If Kenzie would have pushed me out of the way and went running, I would have never had that moment and might have thought that she doesn't trust me.  How much do we hurt God when we try to solve issues on our own instead of asking Him for help?  How proud does God feel when we ask Him to protect us?  This dad can tell you that it feels pretty awesome!