Tangled [1]by Disney was a fun animated movie; I confess I liked it, except for one part. After the evil villain bogus “mother” sings her Mother Knows Best song, they have the following exchange:
Evil villain mother: I love you very much dear
Rapunzel: I love you more
Evil villain mother: I love you most
This dialogue offended me greatly coming from the evil villain “mother” since it has always represented an affectionate moment between my children and me. However, since nothing in our family can remain only a pleasant exchange without becoming competitive, each child attempted to find a better superlative to add to the dialogue. The final winning version ran as follows,
“I love you the most of the best to infinity, to googol, ha ha, I win.”
From that point on, the competition became who could still remember this phrase. (Yeah… we are weird) My youngest gave up recently on even attempting and it made me sad.
I have a son who will be graduating this week, barring disaster and unforeseen circumstances. This son is my true middle child, not the oldest, not the first boy. Since that was also my position in my family of origin there is much I can understand about his struggles. However many parts of his personality come straight from his father. He has a tremendous wanderlust. Checking off new countries visited and new stamps in his passport is a game to him. In fact, everything becomes a game or competition to him, also a trait that comes from his father. He also shares his father’s intense love for all things historical. He loves to debate international politics, but you need a degree in geography to follow his conversations. I assume this would explain why, similar to his father, he has an excellent sense of direction. That should serve him well if he continues to tramp the globe.
He is my skeptic and my risk taker, my Mr. Charisma, which explains why I have been much in prayer for him recently as he will very soon be making his own way in the world. As I prayed today I repeated words that I have prayed many times before, “God, I know you love him the most!” However, this time the answer returned in my spirit,
“Yes, I love him the most, I showed that when I died for him
I love him the best, which means I will always do what is “best” for him, even if that seems difficult at the time.
I love him to infinity and beyond! My love for him will never end!
I love him beyond even googol; I will show my love to him in more ways than you can even count!
Yes of course in any competition of love for my boy, I win!”
So I sit here with tears on my face committing another child, who never in reality was mine to keep, back into the hands of the Father who “loves him the most of the best to infinity, to googol, ha ha, God wins.”
…but I will still cry at his graduation…
Tangled. Dirs. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Disney. 2010. Film