“Mom, my tooth is coming in!”
My nine-year-old daughter opened her mouth wide to show me a tiny new white tooth sprouting from her gums. Babies usually begin teething around six to eight months old, and by the age of five to eight, their baby teeth fall out and permanent teeth start to come in.
As my daughter proudly showed me her new tooth, I suddenly felt God’s love. Though the tooth had pierced through the tender flesh of her gums, there was no bleeding, and she hardly felt any pain. When baby teeth grow, children often feel only a slight itchiness, causing them to rub their gums with their tongues or drool a little. I was amazed. Even in something so small, I could see the love of God, who does not wish to cause His children pain. If a child felt pain every time a tooth grew, then teething would not be a joyful milestone for parents and children alike, but a time of distress and tears.
God’s love and providence can also be found in the animal world. By chance, I once watched a video about “foal slippers.” The hooves of a newborn foal or donkey are wrapped in a soft, sponge-like covering. If their hooves were hard from the start, the mother’s womb could be injured during gestation or torn during birth. After the baby is safely born, these coverings harden when exposed to oxygen and then naturally fall away.
How could we ever grasp all the providence of God woven into the Earth’s ecosystem and the vast universe? Perhaps it is only our ignorance that blinds us to it, making us take it for granted. I am thankful that even through the smallest things, God helps us realize His deep and tender love.