Learning from our children

This past First Day at worship group, during the first few minutes of worship when the children are with us, I got such a kick out of watching the six kids.

For one thing, it's rare that all of them are there at the same time. For another, there are more opportunities for the kids to interact with one another, across the room, with gestures and facial expressions.

And with loud whispers.

For example, two of the three oldest kids were sitting next to each other, each of them in various stages of having lost a tooth or two while also having a few other teeth wiggly and loose.

As quietly as possible, the two of them compared notes on how many teeth they had each lost and how many were on their way out.

The girl holds up four fingers, and using Really Big Mouth Movements, opens her mouth wide at the same time:

F o u r .

F O U R , she repeats, bigger.

The boy feels the inside of his own mouth, double-checking before answering back, just as big:

T W O .

It was clear they were excited for each other. It wasn't a competition, just a simple telling of where they found themselves.

And it got me to wondering at what point in our growing-up years do we stop being so eager to show someone what's special about ourselves as beloved children of God and start to hide our Light and our spiritual gifts under a bushel?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Off I go, to several adventures out east. If Way is open, I'll see if I can get a blog post about some of my experiences in-between major events.

Blessings,
Liz