Snow days are always a pleasant surprise! I am almost ready for Sunday and was blessed with the opportunity to run some errands in Columbus in the latter part of the day! Thank You, Father, for blessing upon blessing!
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I’ve worked directly with children for over ten years now. I worked with my mom in my teen years, teaching primary Sunday School, as well. Before I served as a children’s pastor, Karen and I volunteered in the nursery at our church and led children’s church, too. I love kids, and I pray every day that it shows!
One thing that I enjoy so much is watching children – like the little girl out with her father tonight who enjoyed the curly straw in her milk! Well, this past Monday morning, we still had some snow, and in several instances, I saw children enjoying snow as only they could.
I’ve watched a boy and his younger sister pick up a handful of snow and stick it in their mouths on numerous occasions (she brought a handful on the bus last year, intending to eat it!) One of my girls is obsessed with snow! Monday morning, when I pulled up, she jumped out of their car and headed right for the snow on the side of their driveway, and when her dad finally got her backpack on and was trying to steer her toward the steps of the bus, she deliberately traipsed through a patch of it just to the left of their path. Two stops later, a fifth grader quickly bent over and brushed her mitten through the snow in their driveway, getting on the bus with a smile of satisfaction.
If it is snowing when school lets out, it is the norm for many of the children to attempt to catch snowflakes on their tongues. (I’ve even noticed a few middle schoolers doing it too!)
I love that children, as a whole, are pure, innocent, and genuinely love the finer things of life – what is finer than snow?
Now adults, on the other hand…I’ve yet to see any of my fellow bus drivers running out to catch snowflakes on their tongues – though I have heard some complain that kids do so…they think it’s silly!
I am all for it, and I think we would be the better for it if we let ourselves go and enjoyed the finer, simpler things of life.
Yes, I know children can be problematic, doing things they aren’t supposed to be doing, breaking things, making messes, being way too loud at times, and all the rest, but there are times when no one is as trusting, humble, and forgiving as they are.
You don’t believe me? Well, here’s what Jesus Himself had to say,
He called a little child and set him before them, and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4 AMP
Lord Jesus, may we humble ourselves like children as we strive to be all we can be in the Kingdom. Amen.
Jan 9th, 2024, Tues, 8:15 pm
