Like A Child

I look around and see the various Easter decorations that get put out every year.
The Resurrections Eggs that are opened each day to tell the Easter story.
The glass eggs that look like someone took the time to impeccably dye them.
The ceramic basket filled with intricately painted eggs designed by the artist, Jim Shore.

It is that little basket of eggs that make me smile.
I smile because the yellow egg is on the top.
Every year the yellow egg with the delicate pink flowers is on the top of the basket.
My youngest daughter would not have it any other way.

I remember when she would eat her breakfast at the kitchen island.
I can still see her sitting in her favorite chair.
She would reach over to the little ceramic basket.
She would move the five small eggs around until the yellow egg was on the top.

Some mornings, if I felt mischievous, I would switch the order of the eggs.
I would make sure the yellow egg was on the bottom of the basket.
She would begin to eat her breakfast, reach over and put the yellow egg on the top.
She even made up a game.

She would go around and ask her brothers and sisters which egg they liked the best.
Five eggs for five children.
No one was allowed to pick the same one.
She predicted which egg each of them would pick and she was right.

No one dared pick the yellow egg since they knew that she claimed that one for her own.
She is twenty years old now and in college.
The ceramic basket of eggs are still on the kitchen island.
The yellow egg with the delicate pink flowers is still on the top.

She was particular about one other thing.
It was when she was in preschool.
I would drive her two afternoons a week to her little school.
We would have lunch before we left for school.

As a treat, I would give her a small cup with just enough M&M’s to cover the bottom.
She thought that was the most wonderful treat in the world as we drove to school.
I can still see her in my memory as she appeared in my rear view mirror.
She would be in her car seat with the biggest smile on her face as she ate her few M&M’s.

There was only one stipulation.
It was right after M&M’s introduced a new color: blue.
There had always been red, yellow, orange, green, and brown ones, but never blue.
My youngest daughter thought the blue M&M was so pretty.

She always wanted to make sure I would put a few blue M&M’s in her cup.
Not just in her cup, but the blue ones must be on the top of all the others.
One day without thinking, I had a few blue ones mixed in with the rest.
We could not leave until she put the blue M&M’s on the top of her cup.

The mind of a child is a wondrous thing.
A child will wake up one day and be totally independent.
A child will wake up the next day needing your help with everything.
Those are usually the days that you are your busiest.

A child will insist on having a sandwich cut in four triangles.
That child will be quite upset if you cut their sandwich in squares without thinking.
A child will have favorite shirt that they want to wear constantly.
If the shirt is in the wash, they will wear it again as soon as it is clean, before it is even folded.

A child is a creature of habit.
Their routines are important to them.
Their routines and the predictability of those routines make a child feel safe.
It is the little things that matter most to them.

A child that has a favorite blanket will know the difference if you try to replace it.
Even if you find the same exact blanket, they know that it is not theirs.
A child will wear cowboy boots with a ballerina tutu.
A child will wear a Halloween costume in July if he feels like it.

Oh, to be like a child.
Oh, to be that carefree.
Oh, to be that innocent.
Even Jesus agrees.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child  and had him stand among them. And He said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  (Matthew 18:1-6)

Jesus loves the little children.
Jesus wants us to have the innocence of children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Children are trusting.
Children love with no strings attached.

We could learn much from a child.
Even their idiosyncrasies are precious to Jesus and should be to us as well.
There will only be a small window of time that blue M&M’s must be on the top of a cup.
There will only be a season where cowboy boots, Halloween costumes, and tutus are acceptable.

Embrace your child.
Not as a little adult to make your life easier but as the precious child they are for a short time.
Embrace the child within you!
Dance in the rain and wear mismatched clothes if you choose.

Embrace your idiosyncrasies.
You have them, too!
Jesus loves you with all of your quirks and preferences.
Become like a child and experience Kingdom living at its fullest.