Hats

When I was teaching first grade, I decorated a spring bulletin board featuring construction paper hats flying through the air in a wild March wind.  With this in mind I  wrote the rhyme below for the March installment of the caregiving column I write for our small town's monthly newsletter.  I trust my fellow caregivers will catch the nuances of heartache and joy behind the frivolous words of this semi-autobiographical ditty.  (I know being able to rhyme is not at all the same thing as possessing an ability to write poems, but hope you have fun reading this anyway).  

 Hats

A daughter went to town one day

And chose a brand new hat

She took it to her mother

Who said, “We need to chat.”

“I’m getting on in years now,

My mind’s begun to flee

I think you’d better shed that gear

And act responsibly.”

The daughter loved her tasseled hat

It was a mortarboard

Her style! Her class! She truly thought

A change of hats untoward.

But Mother doffed old garments;

The apron and chef’s hat,

Exchanged them for a patient’s gown

And frivolous nightcap.

The daughter put her hat aside,

With drama, tears, and woe…

 “I sometimes overreact” she owned,

The mother said, “Just so.” 

“You were a child, and thought like one

Your childish days are past

It’s your turn now to be grownup.”

Her offspring was aghast.

The daughter struggled hard at first

But then as time went on

The burden eased and blessings came

Through battles fought and won.

We don’t choose the hats we wear

The Sovereign holds control

And if we balk beneath His hand

We do so to our woe.

Love is the one best constant

Holds firm through every test

Though hats and people fade and change

God’s love always knows best.

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"We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan" (Romans 8:28 The Voice Translation).