They really do. Kids make me laugh. You never know what's going to come out of their mouths.
So of course, I was thoroughly entertained last week during VBS. My grandma and I taught the group that just finished Kindergarten (She's a retired Kindergarten teacher. She rocks), and, as I do every year, I fell in love with our kids and they definitely made me laugh. A lot.
Ever notice how many questions kids ask? One of my favorites was when a little girl asked me why I wear makeup and one of our most precocious boys threw his hands in the air and hollered, "BECAUSE SHE'S A LADY!!!" This was the same boy who had a lot to say about my being gone for two years..."When you get back, we'll be 8 years old! ...In two years...YOU'LL BE MARRIED!!" (No, child. It doesn't quite work that way.)
And, as in most every life experience, I learned some things from them too.
Because VBS this year had a medieval, "Armor of God" theme, we played dress up a lot. One day I put on one of my old dance costumes and a crown and had all the kids convinced I was a princess. I whispered to one kid (the boy I just told you about) that my father was a King, but not to tell anyone. So of course, he starts running around the room and telling everyone just that.
That reminded me of something that's always kind of interested/confused me...Have you ever noticed how in the gospels, Jesus is always telling people not to tell anyone about Him? To keep quiet about Him being the Son of God? I've reasoned that it's because He knew it wasn't the time for everyone to know and that such talk could have gotten Him arrested before the proper time. But I think there's another reason as well...Every time He warned a person not to tell anyone about Him, that person usually went right ahead and did it anyway. Perhaps even with more adamancy and spiritual fervor than if He had told them to do it.
So maybe Jesus was playing on out child-like tendency to do the opposite of what we're told. And doesn't news sort of seem to spread faster when it's supposed to be a secret?
Jesus also said, "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15)
The crazy thing about the kids in my class is that they actually believed me. They just had faith. And another characteristic of kids that we need to imitate: they just want to be loved. They want to be held and cuddled and told they're beautiful and good.
To enter the Kingdom, we really do need to shed a little of ourselves and our pride. We need to crawl into His lap and stare up at Him in wonder and love, desiring His blessing on our lives and having faith in HIm in all things. Like a little child, we need to snuggle into to the warm embrace of our Daddy, trusting Him to protect and love us unconditionally and sacrificially.
On another note, please keep my visa application in your prayers!
Love from Home,
Elizabeth
