“You must be willing to wait without giving up.  After you have done what God wants  you to do, God will give you what He promised you.” – Hebrews 10:36 (New Life Version)

For the past six months, Susannah has deducted that one can officially be called a “big kid” when you have lost a tooth.  And not until then.

She has patiently waited while staring at the dangling carrots of her classmates’ own toothless gaps embedded in their smiles.  She’s longingly watched as they share their latest “wiggly” tooth.  She has heard numerous stories about the tooth fairy because after all, her daddy is a dentist for crying out loud.  The poor girl hears about teeth probably more than I would like to admit.

My mother said the other day that this has been the longest “loose tooth” she has ever seen and she’s correct – it’s been loose for weeks.  She wouldn’t allow anyone to come near it much to her father’s chagrin.  I soon found HIM looking longingly at the “hanging chad” of a baby tooth – a dentist’s dream.  Alas, she always exclaimed an adamant “NO” when asked if he could pull it.

We’ve all been waiting.  We knew it was a matter of time.

“I’ll be a big kid when this tooth falls out, Mommy, but I’ll always be your baby,” she told me a few days ago.  She says this because it’s something I speak over my children almost every day – “No matter how old you get, you will always, always be my baby” is a phrase that is often sung through our halls.  They think it’s the funniest thing in the world.  I see nothing funny about it as I watch these precious years speed by and hold on to them like I do when crossing the wake on water skis.

This morning as the dentist and I were still in slumberland, we were awakened with an loudly-flung open door, small feet galloping down the hall, and the exuberant voice of a giggly little girl who had lost her first tooth.  “Mommy, Mommy!!!!!  My tooth just fell out!!!!” she exclaimed and was literally jumping up and down with excitement.

I think it might have been the only time that my husband or I were randomly awakened and immediately wore smiles on our faces.  Her joy was contagious.

She had waited a long time for this rite of passage.  She never gave up as she wiggled it with her tongue while watching Dora or after her nightly bowl of ice cream.  God was teaching her how to wait.  How to be patient for the inevitable.  How to have faith that all things will come in His timing.  God promised her a lost tooth and she got it.

Tom Petty tells us “the waiting is the hardest part” and I have to agree with him.  Isn’t it so true?  However, I must say that the reward is almost always so sweet and worth the wait.

After all, it’s official.  I now have a “big kid” living in my house.

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