The Polka-dot Snowsuit

Then some people came to him bringing little children for him to touch. The disciples tried to discourage them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and told them, “You must let little children come to me—never stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Indeed, I assure you that the man who does not accept the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and laid his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)

I love to watch children learn. They can be so hungry for knowledge. Our daughter and son-in-law have instituted a time of blessing as part of the bedtime ritual. Our little granddaughter calls it “kind words time.” I wish I had thought of this. They just soak it up. Not only does this practice reinforce positive character traits, but the children learn how to say kind words to others. There is nothing as heart-melting as a cuddly two-year old boy who says, “Thank you, Nana. You are good, and gentle, aaaaaand kind. I wuv you.”

Our three-year old granddaughter craves knowledge. She is so hungry for it. She loves letter games and is starting to read. We can easily lose track of the number of times in a day she asks why or how. The other night, as she tucked her in, her Mommy told her she was kind, and loving and inquisitive.

“What’s inquisitive?’’ she asked.

“It means you like to ask a lot of questions,” Mommy said.

“Why do I ask a lot of questions?”

“We’ll talk about it in the morning. Night, night, sweetie.”

Her ten-year old cousin is also inquisitive. That girl uses Google and Wikipedia as much as I do. When she was younger and her Daddy couldn’t think of a Bible story she didn’t already know she told him, “Daddy, you’re my pastor too, so I expect you to go into your office and study your Bible harder so you can tell me more.” She asked for botany textbooks for Christmas last year. Her younger brother is fascinated by knights and medieval warfare. He practises his gaming skills with the intensity of an officer in training. Both of them get in trouble for reading under the blankets with flashlights.

Our three-year old grandson constantly pushes the limits for the number of stories read to him, always asking for just one more, prolonging the time he spends with Mommy and Daddy. When his Daddy stopped for a minute to run an errand and joked that Mommy got to sit in the car and listen to little guy’s  favourite song on the CD player eight more times, he piped up from the back seat, “Nine more?”

He patiently taught me the names of all his toy trains (with their numbers) so I could keep up. If play is the work of children, he is a very hard worker.

The baby is intent on following the cat everywhere. This pursuit has already gained her some advanced hunting skills as well a friend in McGyver.

I was wondering what child-like characteristics Jesus was talking about when he said we must learn to accept the kingdom as children. There is trust and belief and dependency, of course, but I wonder if child-likeness is also about the intense quest for both knowledge and relationship. I wonder if the Lord enjoys watching us pursue wisdom and understanding, if he enjoys leaving puzzles and toys around for us to delight in, and if the reason he doesn’t answer all our whys is because he wants us to come to him and keep asking more.

I’m sure His heart is melted when we say, “Thank you for the bread, Abba. You are good, you are gentle and you are kind. I love you –very much.”