By MAD21
"A child is a revelation from God.
Prophets receive visions, mystics ponder the ineffable,
great preachers deliver God's word.
The greatest revelation comes through flesh and blood.
Every child is a fresh, unheard-of image of God,
and children keep coming and coming because the world
has not yet conceived of all the fullness of God's glory."
- Mike Mason, The Mystery of Children
I was a little surprise addition to our family. An unexpected challenge to my parents who thought they were already done having children. I have 11 and 13 years between my brother and sister and I, which technically puts me in a new generation (and considered and only child in some ways). I always told people I had the best of both worlds. I had a brother and sister, but I lived alone in the house with my parents by the age of nine. However, if I had had a choice I have to say I would have preferred to have had a sibling closer to my own age. It's one of the reasons it was important to me to have more than one child. I didn't want my kids living their lives without siblings they were close to, who were closer to the same stage in life.
Growing up I always got along better with adults and kids that were younger than me, probably because I spent most of my time with adults and kids much younger than me. I was always the only child my age at any family function we went to (much to my dismay), and the only club or sport I participated in growing up was Brownies for a year or two.
I was one of those kids who never really fit in anywhere. I was not good at sports, I hated school (until college), and there were no clubs for ADHD people who couldn't focus long enough to get really good at any one thing. But I had two loves: Playing with little kids; and anything having to do with music.
In my early 20s I started working in Children’s Ministry. It was a rough start for me. I had terrible self-confidence and the program I was working in wasn’t very organized at the time. So the first few months were pretty hard. But once I got into the groove of things and started working with a team of fabulous people who built the ministry into a wonderful place for families to grow, a whole new life opened up for me. The best way I can describe it is that it was like I had been wearing the wrong size shoes my whole life, and suddenly the shoes fit.
For seven years (outside of a job to pay the bills) everything in my life revolved around ministering to children. It was heaven on earth for me. Some of my fondest memories include amazingly fun things: playing sardines during a 4th and 5th grade sleep-over in the church; bringing a 100ft slip-n-slide and water balloons to camp; creating a gigantic maze out of wardrobe boxes for “Kid’s Night Out.” But honestly, the best times were in-between all those fun events during the quiet and still moments (yes, we actually had some of those) and all of the opportunities to be with the kids when things got “real” for them.
Times like when the Word came alive for them for the first time and when they really started to understand who God was and who they were in Him. One of my favorite moments was when I had the opportunity to baptize one of the kids after she had moved on to the teen ministry. It’s in those moments that as a minister to children things become “real” for us. The few opportunities when we can see the seeds that we plant bloom into amazing faith that will eventually become the child’s own.
There is an amazing wisdom in these little people in our lives. Personally, I don’t think most adults give them enough credit. Yes, they are naïve in most things in life, but they are fresh from God, untarnished by the ways of this world. There is no racism, politics, or hate, just pure, honest, raw and real people with a great deal of worth.
Even Jesus saw the importance of children. We see it many times in his ministry. In Mark 10:14 when Jesus is talking and walking with a crowd and the adults are telling the children to go away and are pushing them aside, Jesus stops them and says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
I believe that it is one of the most important responsibilities God gives to us: taking care of his children. It's something I am very passionate about and it's one of the reasons that I started this blog. Jesus made it clear how he felt about the importance of children and they way they are to be cared for by stating: “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)
Even if you are a person who isn’t comfortable around kids, or doesn’t really know what to do with them, you can still be a good influence. You can be a good example by being an honest, dependable, faithful, loving and God-fearing adult in their lives. Whether you are aware of it or not… whether they are your children or not… whether they are children you know or not… you are still an influence. Why? Because the children around you see everything. And they are looking to you to show them the face of God.
Will you be that face?
[Note: We just started a series of posts addressing some Biblical values and ways to pray for our children. Be sure to check it out.]
This post is a participant in a blog carnival over at Bridget Chumbley's One Word at a Time.
Be sure to go and check out what everyone else wrote on: Children.