Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Present - Repents - Serpent (07/17/25)
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TITLE: In the Now | Previous Challenge Entry
By Laurie Bahlke
07/24/25 -
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I am painting a section of the swing set when Everly calls out, “Aww, Grandma, look at the butterfly. It’s not moving. I think it’s dead. Why do things die, Grandma?
Bexley pauses for a moment, paintbrush in hand, her artwork splashed across the swing set, and gently says, “That’s life, Evie. Things are born, and then they die. That’s life, right, Grandma?" She looks to me, her hazel eyes picking up glints of sunlight. I marvel at her budding maturity, wondering how it can be that she is growing up so fast, and before I can answer, Evie chimes back in, “But isn’t the goal to just get up every day and live?”
And there it is—the wisdom of a six-year-old child.
Evie’s words are likely quite literal for her. But for me, there is a profound truth in what she says. Evie goes back to painting on the swing set. She writes out her name above the sun and adds a leaf drenched in glitter. Bexley continues to add purple snowflakes because that’s her favorite season of the year. We date the swing set 2025. On the other end of the swing set, the moments of 2024 are captured in rainbows, flowers, and butterflies.
As they leave that day, Evie’s words still echo in my ears. Explaining death to children isn’t easy, and I have often wondered what they take away from our grown-up explanations. Bexley’s response to her sister was sweet beyond measure and wrapped in care. At nine, she is passing along what she has come to understand.
I suppose that’s where the conflict lies for many of us. We want to live in the moment, but we surrender the present by looking back or too far forward. We also risk losing the precious moments of now because time brings along many challenges, like losing a good friend, letting go of people or dreams, and trying to understand why bad things happen.
My granddaughters cartwheel through each day, literally. The present for them is found in asking questions, holding hands on forest paths, slipping secrets into cupped ears, and in the discovery of what they most enjoy; French toast for breakfast, dancing with grandpa, beading bracelets, and most everything that their mom touches. And while they are learning about life and trying to understand why bad things happen, they are still painting swing sets, loudly singing their favorite songs, and pausing long enough to comment on the first lick of an ice cream cone. Perhaps, it is in the present where resilience and faith lean into each other and are strengthened.
My young granddaughters and I aren’t so different. Age distances us, but my past connects to their present. I have traveled their journeys and sometimes lost my way. I have grieved more than once. I have said goodbye to friendships, career, and those I love. I have tried, more than once, to understand why bad things happen.
God provides us with truth and instruction for how to live in the present. In Psalms 118:24 (NLT), we are reminded that, “This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” This is where I need to be grounded, and when life’s circumstances leave me weary and breathless, I still need to “just wake up and live.”
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