Children

This was an extremely busy morning at church.  I usually arrive around 8:15a.m. to connect with my volunteers and make sure that they have what they need and that everything is ready to go for the morning.  After the band has finished rehearsing at 9a.m. we run through the schedule and then spend time in prayer for the morning. 

Then come the two services with a short snack break in-between those services in the Meeting Room so the volunteers can rest and catch their breath.  After the second service I meet once again with the volunteers and pastors involved in the service to have a service review.  Typically a Sunday morning ends for me around 12:30p.m., but today I landed up having a few extra conversations which were really good and so by the time I had cleaned up the green room snacks it was much later than usual and I was reaching the end of my energy level.  As I walked down the hallway from the kitchen toward the empty foyer my mind was rolling through all the different elements of this morning’s services and I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude for a God-honoring morning.  I reached the foyer and I could feel my get up and go slowly getting up and leaving, I was so ready to go home and rest. It had been a very emotional morning and I was feeling somewhat drained.  I could hardly wait to get home, put my feet up and maybe have a nap.  

As I walked through the foyer I noticed a little blonde haired girl peeking out at me from under the spiral staircase with a bright smile.  The moment I was within range she popped out and greeted me.

“Are you from the other church?” she asked spinning on one foot.

“Yes,” I replied, “Are you helping to set up for your church?”  We have another church that runs their service in our building at 4p.m. and their techs were already there to begin set up.

“No,” she responded with a giggle, “I’m here to play with my brother!”

“Oh, is he here?” I looked around the foyer.

“No, I mean I want to play with him later in the gym, when they tell us we can go play!”

“Ah, I see, so you go play in the gym during the service?”

“Uh huh, but only when they tell us we can go play.” she swiped at a blonde curl that swung down into her eyes. “I like playing in the gym! We have um maybe ten kids who go and play and we have lots of fun.  Ten isn’t a big number!”

“No, you’re right, ten isn’t a big number.  Sounds like just the right amount of kids to play with.   I think I would enjoy that too!  I’m glad you have fun with them!”

She giggled and spun around again on one foot, taking another swipe at her curls as they fell down once more in front of her eyes.  She looked at all the goodies I was holding in my hands and rocked back and forth on her feet.  So, I offered her a cookie, to which she gave me a polite “No thank you”, then I offered her an orange and again it was a very polite “No, thank you” And then the spinning on one foot began again.  She told me her name and I told her how beautiful her name was.

“Thank you!” she responded with a big smile.  She then told me that her name was really two names pushed together and that her best friend had the same name as the second part of her name and that the two friends thought that was quite funny.  She spun and talked, spun and talked, she told me her teacher’s name and what she liked to do in school, we talked about recess and how cold it was and how much snow was on the ground.  As she talked those beautiful curls of hers were insistent on falling across her eyes and she simply kept pushing them back and continued on with her spinning. 

“One day we had to have recess in school all day!  The whole day we were in the school because it was too cold to have recess outside.  So, we were inside all day!”  She began rocking back and forth on her feet and then with a polite smile she said.  “If I’m bothering you you don’t have to talk to me anymore.  I don’t want to bother you!”

Who was this child?  So extremely polite!  I told her that I was enjoying talking to her and I truly was.  Suddenly the tiredness I had been feeling took a backseat to this conversation.  As soon as I told her that I had time for her the spinning began in full force, her smile became even bigger and those curls swayed and bounced with each spin, her little hand pushed them back without any sense of annoyance over the small task.

“Can I show you what I like to do on those stairs?”

“Sure!” 

Quick as a wink she turned and ran to the spiral staircase and proceeded to hang upside down from one of the bottom stairs and then she put her hands on the floor beneath and dropped back down to the ground.  She gave a couple of little jumps and then spun again and though she didn’t say anything I could almost hear her saying “Tada!”

“Wow!  It looks like you know some gymnastics!” and then the grandmother in me kicked in, “You be very careful when you’re hanging off of those stairs ok?”

“I will!” she giggled, the big bright smile came at me like a beam of beautiful light, “I like talking to you!”

“I like talking to you too!”

“Do you need to leave now?” she asked with the first hint of disappointment in her voice.

“Yes, it’s time for me to go home.  I hope you have fun playing with the other kids today in church!”

“Ok, thank you!  Bye!” she waved with a grin.

“Bye”

I left the foyer and went into my office smiling to myself.  What a great way to end my morning, well technically by now it was well into the afternoon.  I felt so blessed by my conversation with this beautiful little girl.  As I drove away from the church I smiled remembering her spins and all the times she pushed back those curls from her face, not a worry in the world and eager to share a small piece of her life with me.  But, I felt honored that she wanted to talk to me, not to get anything from me, but she simply wanted to be heard and watched.

I thought of the story of Jesus and the little children in Mark 10.

”People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant.  He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them”

I now wondered how many of those children were spinning or rocking in front of Jesus, pushing back wayward curls from their eyes eager to simply be in the presence of Jesus, maybe show him a rock they had found or possibly give him a flower that had perhaps been crushed a bit in their tiny hands.  No wonder Jesus became indignant when the disciples told the parents “No!” Jesus’ message was and is loud and clear, we should never stand in the way of our children or anyone coming to Him. 

 And still Jesus didn’t keep the children at a distance, but it says he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.  What an honor for the parents and especially for these children as well, something for them to tell their children and grandchildren one day.  I’m pretty sure though that I can safely say that Jesus was probably blessed as well by the presence of these little ones.  I know that I was completely blessed by this beautiful little girl with the gorgeous curls who allowed me a glimpse into her bright, happy world.

Yes, our world right now has a seemingly inordinate amount of problems and hardships, troubles that frustrate, confuse and sometimes divide us, problems that cause us to be angry, scared, often making us feel helpless. But, even though we know that there is a heaviness that swirls around us, we are not without hope, Jesus is inviting us, like those little ones to come and sit with Him.  To feel His touch and to be blessed by Him.  And it is through those little ones, those brilliant rays of sunshine that our promise of a bright future is possible through Jesus. And if He has not forgotten about the children, then there’s no way that He has forgotten about this world.  Yes, we need to be aware of what is going on around us, but, let’s not get so distracted by this world, that we forget to lead our children with joy and anticipation of a better day coming and allow them a voice to share their uncomplicated view of the world around them.  We know who wins the battle, so let's take a moment to breathe, pray and then listen, I mean really listen for the voice of God. You might be surprised by what God has to say to you today through the voice of an innocent child.