Children

Today I was with my 7 year old boys pretty much every moment of the day. We went to church, we went to Target, we played at home and I answered a gazillion questions for them (some questions multiple times). Then for the rest of the day I helped them mount their God-forsaken homemade Pokemon cards on posterboard and laminate them. Over and over again we did this. They basically think I'm an arts & crafts god now. I have to admit, I'm pretty good at mounting & laminating homemade Pokemon cards.

It's a gift.

There was one moment in the middle of the day when they were coloring (yes, homemade Pokemon cards) when I had a chance to go out to the garage to do some organizing. I went out there for 30 seconds before I realized I forgot something, so I went back in and Owen was standing there staring at me with his mouth open and a disgusted look on his face, "DADDY WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!? I WAS WORRIED - I FINISHED MY POKEMON CARD AND I'M READY TO LAMINATE."

After a lengthy apology for not manning my post I proceeded to laminate their homemade cards with clear packing tape while they asked me for snacks, how to use the computer and what my favorite Pokemon character is.

My parents tell me to soak these moments in because a time is coming when they will want nothing to do with me. I can see the truth in that - every time I blink they seem to get bigger and bigger - and a little less dependent on Susie and I. As parents we often get tired and frustrated but I think when the smoke clears we all enjoy being needed. Wanted. We all enjoy providing for our children. Teaching them. Encouraging them. Loving them.

"Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these...Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Luke 18:16; Matt. 18:3

What was it about children that Jesus loved so much? Was it their intellect? Their perfect work? Their theology? Their doctrines?

No.

It was their dependence on others. It was the complete absence of pride & shame. It was their humility. It was the absence of judgment & criticism. It was the absence of entitlement. It was their lightheartedness and emotional sensitivity. It was their freedom.

See, childlike dependence is ironically the only doorway to true freedom. This is how God set it up. Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Him will find it.
Part of what it means to lose our life is to lose our worldly reputation. Children will laugh, cry, shout, plead and beg in front of others without even thinking about it. When we break away from the pack and start pressing into God, people may shake their heads at us. Even the so-called religious folks may label us "immature" and persecute us. In fact, Jesus said they would. For the love of God, the religious folks accused Jesus of being demon possessed! If Jesus is our model for what normal Christianity is supposed to look like, bring it on.

I believe God gave us parent-child relationships as a model which tells us exactly how He wants us to relate to Him - with utter dependence. With reckless abandonment. Hands in the air, crying to be held. If you want help finding God, just watch your kids.

May we depend on God like our kids depend on us. May we pursue God with reckless abandonment. May we stand in the doorway and say, "Daddy, where have you been? I have been worried and I'm ready for your help."