My kids say some funny things, and sometimes I just have to smile or laugh at how literal they are. But they also have an uncanny ability to get their point across, even if they don’t know the right words.
My older son, who is almost six, had one of these moments this morning. Right before we started to get ready, he mentioned “I’m pretty sure I was almost done watching the rest of my dream.” I thought that was pretty clever, and I was also a little envious. Rarely are my dreams so exciting that I describe myself as watching them. This is the same child who, while watching a commercial involving a vampire, asked “is that a people shark?”. Well, yeah, it kinda is, buddy. Pretty insightful.
In addition to saying cute or funny things, they often say deep things without knowing it. I learn a lot about God, and who He is, from my kids. For instance, while listening to my older son pray, I am often humbled by his ability to be thankful for seemingly little things, like being allowed to have an extra cookie after dinner, or that a sibling found a missing toy. If I were truly thankful for the little things as well as the big, I would have very little time to be ungrateful.
Their innocence humbles me as well. Last weekend, while driving around, my youngest was in the back seat. I had the Christian radio station playing. He gasped excitedly and asked “Did they just say God?!” I said, “Yes baby, they did.” Isaiah’s response? “I want to hug Him!”. My heart melted. I long for that kind of love for my Savior, that just the sound of His name makes me want to run to Him, throw my arms around Him, and hug Him.
My kids also teach me how to be wholly devoted and unwavering. Watching my daughter growing up, I have seen how her understanding of God has developed and changed over the years. She has been through a lot of negative things during her short life, and she has had plenty of reasons to be angry or think that God doesn’t care. But she doesn’t think that. She still looks at God with wonder and holy fear. I see the Spirit watering seeds of longing for a deeper relationship with Christ, and I’m getting excited to watch her realize the things of God. Every time she has an “ah-hah moment” about God, I get so excited I want to burst! I hope that never changes in her. I hope she always longs for deeper understanding in her relationship with Christ, and I hope she always gets excited when she sees God working in her life or those around her. And I pray I never get tired of seeing that in her.
I never want to stop learning from the innocence of my kids. It is their unwavering, simple faith that teaches me that God wants us to come to Him with faith like a child, unafraid and unashamed, innocent yet incredibly profound.
“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.” Luke 18:16-17
this post was very touching. We are so blessed to have our little guys who seem to make such a pure love just simple.