sacred strokes

I have a 3 ½ year old niece who is basically joy on legs. She is funny and energetic and sweet and I don’t think her parents could have done a better job raising her up to this point. Am I biased? Of course. She has a piece of my heart that I never want back and I just think she’s the greatest. I have so much fun with her.

A few weeks ago, her dad (my brother) was working at our dad’s house, so I was playing with my niece and keeping her company. We were playing in the dirt, just like I remember doing with her dad when we were younger, pretending that rocks were our furniture and food. One big rock was the table, another was the fridge, another was the stove… she even made one our (quite uncomfortable) couch. Medium-sized, flat rocks were the plates and pans, and small rocks were our food. Small sticks were our forks and spatula. We pretended to make breakfast together (she made “peanut butter and jelly” on the “stove”) and then we pretended to eat. Well, she pretended a little too hard.  She actually licked one of the rocks on accident, which made me laugh out loud because her hands were covered in dirt, so she couldn’t do anything but just hang her tongue out of her mouth and look at me wide-eyed, not knowing what to do. So I wiped the clean inside of her shirt on her tongue a couple times and she was good to go, ready to keep playing. Such a country kid she is. I love it.

She had given me her binky (pacifier) at one point, so that she could play and so I could keep it clean. I use a straw in my to-go coffee mug, so I put the binky on the straw and it was an effortless little holder. At some point, I finished my coffee. The ground was a bit uneven and the mug was empty. I wanted to put it down but I didn’t want it to fall over and get her binky dirty, so I put the mug on the ground and pushed up a little dirt around the base so that it wouldn’t topple over. Problem solved. We kept on playing and would randomly each leave for a bit to grab more rocks. My little sister joined in and we had a good, dirt-covered time.

About an hour or so later, we were ready to head to the house because my brother was finished working, and we all needed to clean ourselves off. While I was gathering our things, I noticed something that made my heart so full that it’s probably even weird how much it meant to me. There in the dirt, right next to my mug, was my niece’s sippy cup, also packed in with dirt. She had done that at some point after I put mine there and I hadn’t even noticed. I took a picture because it says so much to me and speaks truth to my soul. The reason this small act of imitation meant so much to me is because my niece had no idea why I put some dirt around my cup, but she did the same to hers anyway. She copied me and wanted to be like me, without any reason or logic behind it. She saw me do it, so she did it, too and never questioned the purpose. Be still, my heart.

In Matthew 18:2-4, Jesus had to deal with the fact that His disciples were quarreling among themselves as to which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus called a child to Him and placed the child among them. Then He said “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” In fact, such statements from Jesus are mentioned various times in the gospels and there is good reason we sing songs with lyrics such as these, which I remember from my childhood: “Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world. Red or yellow, black or white, they are precious in His sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

The moment I noticed my niece’s cup in the dirt, I thought of that truth which Jesus spoke about children. What does He mean by saying that we all must become as children, as “lowly” and humble as a child? Well, for one thing, I can only imagine the joy that He must feel when we obey and follow Him unabashedly, and without question. I doubt any earthly comparison can suffice (and I can only imagine how restrained Jesus felt while trying to communicate heavenly and spiritual truths in terms of human language and in a way which a human mind could even begin to comprehend)… but I know how I felt seeing my niece place her cup next to mine and copy me, without even knowing why. I can’t nearly imagine how God feels when we choose to do the same – to imitate Him, follow Him, obey Him, even when we don’t understand the reason, can’t put a logical explanation to it, or don’t even consider the rationality at all! My niece captured that truth so perfectly. She taught me that morning.

Also, a child can see past the physical realm. When I told my niece that a rock was our stove, she didn’t even question it. She immediately saw the potential for other rocks and the game was on.  And she didn’t give one hoot about her clothes or appearance – she was all in!   There is an openness with children, a simple enjoyment and pleasure with even just dirt and rocks when they are spending time with someone they love. When we spend time with God, even if we have little in terms of material possessions, can we be happy and content just being with Him, just having Him near? Few people make me feel as special and loved as my niece when I walk through the door or when she sees me approaching. She yells my name and runs and reaches for me and throws her arms around my neck when I scoop her up. And then, naturally, she has something to show me or something new to tell me about, or wants to jump right into playing. Are we that way with the Lord?! Man, I know how my niece makes me feel when she does that and I can only imagine the joy we bring to the Lord when we come to Him in such a way! When we get our quiet time or when something happens in our lives, either good or bad, and the first thing we want to do is talk to God about it. When we get excited and speak His name, when we appreciate that we get to have some time just with Him. When we don’t even stop to care how others will think of us when we act in such a way, so excited for our Lord.  I want to have such an eagerness when I am spending time with Jesus! Doesn’t it sound beautifully endearing?!

Another great thing about children is they have a clean slate. Genetics play a role and all that, but environment and experience is huge in their development. Children enter this world completely dependent on others and they have no reason to distrust, to harbor ill will, to entertain prejudice or hate. They don’t even have a choice but to hope, trust, love, and have faith. A faith that they will be provided for, protected, loved, cherished. Do we have such a faith in Jesus? We should! He can do more for us than any parent could ever hope to do for her child.

Children love hard, they hurt hard, they feel, they are open, they are innocent, they are pure, they are happy with the little things. They look up to others and don’t hold back from showing their admiration.  At least they start out that way. The world, the flesh, sin and darkness threaten to take those things away. And, unfortunately, in the world we live in, staying naïve and too trusting can even prove to be dangerous. But spiritually speaking, are we remaining as children? Are we open to discovery, open to newness, open to love, humble enough to trust the Lord and readily acknowledge that we don’t know it all? That we can’t? Open to enjoy the moment, to make the most of it, regardless of how many material things are in our midst? Open to putting people above things and the Lord above people?  Do we have such a faith?

Jesus calls us to become spiritually like children. His children. And I can see why. I can honestly say that I want to be more like my niece as I grow up.

1 Timothy 4:12, HLC