Like a Child

Last Wednesday I ran into some adorable first graders. These weren't just your typical kind of first graders. You could tell by first glance that life had already dealt them a tough hand. As I stood there and talked with them, my heart ached for them. I ached that their lives would be more simple, more "normal" (whatever normal means). I wished that they could just worry about playing on the playground and finishing up their homework that night, instead they had more "adult kind" of worries. I'm hungry, will there be something for me to eat when I leave here? Why does my mom cry all the time? Why is my daddy in jail and will I ever see him again? Things no child should ever have on their minds.


I wanted to stay with these children and make sure that the other kids in their AWANA class were nice to them and included them. Most of all, I wanted to shelter them and protect them from life's harshness. I cannot tell you what a physical ache I felt.


As I watched them go into their class and saw their eyes light up at the puppet show that was going on, I realized, that's how God feels about us. He wants us to run to His almighty arms and crawl up into His huge lap and let Him protect us from life's harshness. We tend to complicate things and forget that the God of the universe-loves US! He wants to take care of US! We are called His children! What an amazing God we serve! How unworthy we are, yet He continues to love us anyway.