I love to read books to children. Whether it’s a novel with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter or a picture book with simple text and detailed illustrations, reading aloud with a little one (or more) nearby creates cherished memories and encourages them to become readers themselves.   When our twin daughters were infants, not even old enough to sit up yet, I would lie on the floor between them and hold up books to read aloud until my arms got tired. One of the books given to me at a baby shower was a classic written by the prolific author Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd— The Runaway Bunny . It was a large board book (extra heavy for me to hold above my head!) with a mixture of pen and ink drawings and colorful illustrations. It may be less well known compared to Brown’s Goodnight Moon , but The Runaway Bunny has definitely stood the test of time.   I re-read the story recently using that same copy which is now more than twenty years old. I held a sweet almost one-year old in my lap as we examined the pictures and read about the naughty bunny who wanted to run away. In the story, the little bunny would tell his mother that he planned to become a trout swimming in a trout stream or a crocus growing in a hidden garden or a bird flying in the sky in order to run away, but each time the mother countered with a plan to find her bunny, doing whatever was required to bring him back. She would become a fisherman or a gardener or even the tree that he would fly home to. And her reason for the pursuit of her child was only “for you are my little bunny.”   The little bunny’s persistent plots for running away and the mother’s relentless pursuit to thwart those plots made me think of one of my favorite chapters in the Bible—Psalm 139. King David, the author of this poignant, poetic prayer, says to God, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” (NLT)   Just as a you might ask why a silly, little bunny would want to leave the comfort and safety of his mother, you might wonder why David would try to escape God’s spirit. Was it a guilty conscience, self-destructive rebellion, or just foolishly listening to the wrong people? Whatever the reason, God continued to be there, waiting to welcome him back in a manner that defied comprehension. David says, “You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!” God is in front and behind while also placing His hand on us…each of us…at the exact same time. It’s even more impressive than the mother bunny who was willing to become a tightrope walker to walk across the air to get to her son who ran away to join the circus.   For me, the best part of The Runaway Bunny is the end, because who doesn’t love a happy ending? The little bunny finally comes to his senses and says, “I might just as well stay where I am and be your little bunny.” To which the mother bunny practically replies, “Have a carrot.” (She probably suspects that he was just hangry and in need of a snack.) Our happy ending comes with knowing that God made us, He knows us, and He sent His son to die for us. The names of His children are written in the Book of Life and engraved on the palms of His hands. Jesus is positioned to speak in our defense and he’s busy getting our bedrooms ready in the most amazing mansion ever built. So we must be pretty special and sought after for Him to go to that much trouble. In other words, we are His little bunnies.