What Children Can Teach Us
We were all seated at the dinner table awaiting our youngest grandchild to join us. His delay had to do with something he viewed out the window, and on his way to the table, he stopped to acknowledge and marvel. And then, he proclaimed its captivating beauty while running to join us.
Sadly, the adults were more famished for food, succumbing to our appetites, rather than noticing and engaging with our surroundings. He wasn’t; his eye was trained (thank you, parents!), and his carefree mode of operation, that of being a child, allowed him to slow down, see, and declare! I quickly rose from my seat to pay respect to his declaration and to share in his celebration of God’s awe-inspiring beauty – His painting of the sunset. Yes, it was a celebration because my grandson had made it so with his gleeful acknowledgement. We offered a prayer of thanksgiving for our food and then continued. However, that episode stirred something in me.
Another incident like this one occurred in the kitchen while I was preparing lunch. I noticed my young son staring out the window for an uninterrupted length of time. He sat still and engaged with what I later learned was the sight of a praying mantis. Yes, it gets its name and spelling from its praying posture. I would like to change the spelling to preying because the ‘correct’ spelling reflects something that cannot possibly be true. Anyhow, he told me to come. He was equally as excited for me to share in his observation with awe and wonder as he was. The creature was intent on climbing up the window and Andrew was aghast at its success. Childlike wonder of God’s creation!
What do these two stories have in common? You probably came to the same conclusion I did: Children have a beautiful way of blocking out the noise of the day and the hurried pace of life. Unknowingly, they offer us a blessing to join them in their world of wonder and awe!
So, this is my challenge – slow down and be available for God’s goodness and beauty to surprise you in unexpected ways. I have no recipe for how to, but hopefully, I can inspire you to slow down and realize that we miss God’s best for us when we succumb to a lifestyle that demands us to rush through our days, instead of allowing God to order our steps. Being busy is a badge of honor in our culture. Let’s rethink that.
In John Mark Comer’s book entitled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, he speaks about the one thing Dallas Willard says to do to be the me I want to be. “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” He continues saying, “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.” Reread that.
While I don’t agree with everything Comer writes, his book caused me to ponder – what drives me to hurry through my days – too much scheduled, unexpected interruptions, more love for tangible duties than love for people… What else comes to your mind? Recall that Jesus never hurried.
A dear friend and somewhat of a spiritual mentor once said to me with such grace and serenity, “I have enough time to do everything God intends for me to do today.” That has resonated with me for over thirty years!
I pray for you as I pray for myself. I start by asking God to order my steps and prioritize His agenda for my day. I know one thing, as a mom or dad of littles, while God desires you to teach them, there is also much He wants YOU to LEARN from them. And in the middle of our days’ activities, their sense of wonder and awe at God’s created world is a good place to start.
