Sep
3
2024
Wonder And Watching
Posted in Discipleship 2 Comments
My son, daughter-in-love, and two of my granddaughters came for the weekend.
We all went to my daughter’s church.
All the cousins were able to be together.
They got to see each other again after being with each other the night before.
We all went to an ice cream shop the night before.
I stood back and watched as major decisions were made.
The excitement was palpable.
I watched the young high school students scoop out all the desired flavors.
As the young man tallied up the total, I waited.
How many were you? He asked looking towards the door.
The shop was small, so after their dish of ice cream was given, they went outside.
My son lingered with me as I waited to pay.
He and I did a quick calculation and said, There are ten of us.
He only had seven listed on our order.
Between him and another girl behind the counter, they remembered the other three orders.
My small dish of twist, soft serve was one he had forgotten.
I paid and went outside to the sound of, Thank you Grandma.
What is it about the face of a child eating ice cream?
There is such joy and abandon.
There is absolutely no concern that the ice cream has dribble down their chin.
After they finished their treat, they played.
This is a lovely place where summer concerts are held on the green.
This is the place where Restaurant Row offers more choices than you can imagine.
There is a section of road that is closed in front of the restaurants for outside seating.
There was live music; many of the songs were from my college years.
There are fountains, where the children throw pennies and make a special wish.
There is the concert stage, which is a large, paved circle with steps on two sides.
The stage was empty, except for the little dancers who were oblivious to anyone around them.
The five cousins ran on the grass, playing princess and fairy games.
My two and a half year old grandson kept up with them, recruited to be the prince.
There is a small pond with large fish.
One of the grownups went with them so they could get a closer look.
The littlest one, almost ten months old, tried to crawl near the others.
He stopped if a piece of tall grass intrigued him.
He stopped to smile at someone passing by.
He stopped to hug a football close to his chest that someone left on the grass.
It was the perfect end of summer night.
We watched as dusk started to fall over the green.
We knew it was time to go home.
They knew that baths were waiting for them to wash off their summer play.
My granddaughters were in their Sunday school classes, while we were in the service.
My two grandsons were with us.
The littlest one was asleep in a carrier on his mama’s chest.
The two and a half year old was so excited to see us come into the room.
He was in his daddy’s arms while everyone was singing during a time of worship.
I watched him watching his aunt and uncle, and his mommy, who was swaying as she sang.
He laid his head on his daddy’s shoulder in total contentment.
He mouthed, Hi Grandma, quite a few times as I sat in the row behind him.
It was Communion Sunday.
As the bread and the juice were passed, he watched intently.
As we took the bread and took the cup, he watched.
He saw how important worship, communion, and fellowship are to the people he loves.
His mommy and daddy are teaching him about Jesus.
From the Word being taught, and the Word being preached, he will hear the Good News.
He will also see the importance of worshiping the Lord Jesus from watching others around him.
Lessons are taught as well as caught.
Children are filled with wonder.
They need to play with abandon and see the beauty in the world around them.
That innocence and wonder come with them to church on Sunday.
They are watching us.
What are they seeing?
So true that our little ones learn from everything we do and say…we must always be good examples of God’s love.
Yes, Sue. Their little eyes are always watching.
Gina