Close proximity is a blessing! I understand that in greater depth since Othel and I have stepped into the roles of my parents. Now we are the grands and great grands enjoying the blessings of living in close proximity to our growing families.

I thought that by the time we were given the title of great grandparents, we would “ooze” in wisdom and be able to share keen insights into raising the next generation. Instead I continue to be the student and seem to be more of a learner than a teacher.

“Baby talk” has gone the way of the dinosaur! I observe the young mothers in our family as they talk to their little ones. They use adult words, explain new words and use constant communication in teaching. Their young listen and are stocking new words into their growing vocabularies. I know this as fact, because their little ones have progressed into communicators of words instead of only whines, screams and tears.

Some consonants still aren’t as easy to form with our little ones, but I’m amazed at how their mothers hear their babbling (what sounds like gibberish to me) and are able to decipher each string of words.

What amazing skills these young mothers possess. Then it dawns on me. They are in constant communication with their young. They hear every “jumbled” word and are attentive to their body language and efforts to form new words. What sounds to me at times like a foreign language is a means of communication that these mothers interpret with their hearts as much as with their minds. Maternal love and constant proximity span any barriers of budding vocabularies.

Like I said, I’m still the student. I, too, reap amazing rewards when I stay in close proximity to the Father through prayer and meditation. He communicates clearly through His written word, but I must read it. Listening in solitude while focusing on Him not only increases my spiritual discernment, it helps me learn what He wants me to know. Close proximity holds endless blessings!

Letters to Camille Anding can be sent to P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS, 39602, or emailed to camille@datalane.net.