I had forgotten that children know best how to live life. They may not always follow directions or act like you want them to, but their minds are pure and they are so very curious about...well...everything. With patience and a willingness to try and understand what they're trying to say or do, they can be such a blessing and make you laugh over and over again.
They don't keep track of time but they do keep track of how big their tadpoles are getting. They ask the darndest questions and invite me to see the world through little eyes once again. They run in fields at twilight jumping around trying to catch the little light-up bugs. They start leaf collections and are fascinated by magnolia flower buds (cause they're fuzzy). I found myself saying "come 'on, let's hurry" when really there was no need. They take their time putting their socks on, getting dressed, eating breakfast...they've got the right pace down. Maybe if we cut some of the unnecessary activities out of our life we could move at that pace too. Why hurry? Why rush? Why stress? It takes the joy out of life...
Wanting to know how everything started, I explained to one little boy I took care of about the beginning of the world and told how God breathed life into lumps of clay, creating the first man and woman. "Oh yeah, I think I remember that...it was Adam and Cindy, right?" Oh little man...I wanted to laugh out loud but didn't. When I explained one night that we could talk to God and He could talk back to us if we listened with our hearts, he told me when I tucked him in, "I heard God...He said, 'You are My child'." And that's just it. The simplicity of it all. He didn't doubt that God would speak to him, but was just willing to hear and so he did. I want to become like a little child, even as I leave childish ways behind me.
