Faith of a Child

I lead the children's sermon in church on Sunday.  We talked about prayer.  When, where, how.  Basic stuff. 

I wanted the kids to have a fun way to practice praying at home; different then the way they might pray during dinner or at bedtime. 

I put together little bags of skittles with a card color coded with different ways they can pray for each colored skittle.  I told them that before they could eat a skittle they had to match it to the prayer, pray and THEN eat it. 

As we sat in the pews for the rest of the service I glanced over at BuhBuh.  He was kneeling on the ground, picking up skittles, reading the card, praying and then eating the skittles.  

I couldn't help but smile a proud mama smile.  

It was adorable.

The kids have been enjoying having all of the leftover skittles at home this week.  They have continued to make sure to match the color of the skittle up to the prayer and pray before eating them.

Little Dude asked for a skittle the other day.  

He chose yellow...his favorite color.  

I told him that he needed to pray and tell God he loved him.

He folded his little hands and said, "Dear God, I wuv you sooooo much.  Amen."  

It was precious.  It was sweet.

He threw his hands in the air and proudly declared,  "IIIIII DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!!!!" 

Then we high fived.  

I love teaching kids, especially my kids about God and Jesus and how loved they are by them.  I love to watch their eyes light up.  I love to see their faith in action.  I love that they get it, sometimes even better than I do.  There is something about the innocence of a child that helps them to see better than we adults do the love God has for us.  Sometimes I think they just might grasp the concept better than we do.  

What is it that happens as we get older??  

Why do we loose that child-like faith??  

Why does it get harder and harder to understand and get our heads around God's Grace and love for us.  

My eyes have seen the ugliness; my ears have heard the harsh words; my heart has been broken. 

There is so much sadness, so much tragedy and at times so little hope.  

Satan's work is easy when we allow the way of the world consume us. 

We allow Satan to harden our hearts.

No wonder it's hard to understand.

But then I hear The Boy recite word for word 1 Samuel 3:10 "Speak, for your servant is listening."as I am reading that story to BuhBuh in a different room and I get it.

I see BuhBuh show God's love to neighbors through a simple act and I get it.

I watch Little Dude lead dinner time prayers every night and I get it.

Then I read The Word.

"For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me."  

Matthew 18:2-5 (The Message) 

And I get it.