Then, during worship, she came up to me. I thought something was wrong so I asked where her parents were and who she was sitting with. She said her Mom was singing and pointed saying, "I'm sitting over there with Dad." She then said she just wanted to come give me a hug and say hi, again. I felt so loved.
I told her Mom about it after the service and she just said about her daughter, "Yeah, she has a big heart."
It's true. The sweet gestures reminded me of how innocent kids are and how faith is hopefully more easy for them. And the fact that I want to go back to being a kid, but really, to just have child-like faith. Faith that God's got me and everything is okay.
Easier said than done sometimes, especially (and all the more reason to have faith!) when life is hard, when you get hurt, when you feel lonely, when you don't feel well, when you feel literally crazy, when you don't know what to do or say, when you don't know what you're doing, when you want to retaliate, when things feel unfair, when you want to believe and trust God, when it all feels too much.
In perfect timing, (though let's be real, I didn't really want to hear it from my Mom), I read in my devotional, based on Matthew 5:38-42, the following:
"In other words, don’t trade eyes for eyes, giving like for like; instead, take the exchange out entirely: Give and turn, then let go. Jesus is essentially telling us to turn our palms up, shoulder the weight we’re not meant to carry, and walk on, going with them for an extra mile. We ought to out-give, out-do, out-serve, and in doing so, bring honor and glory to Him."
"We’ve all felt like the doormat, felt the rub of dirty feet across our backs, a by-way for others to step over in their entrance to the feast. But then I think of sweet Jesus, lifting the feet of the disciples—dirty, sore, broken, smelly feet—and washing them with His own hands. The Savior of the world holding the feet of users and walkers and blind men who thought they could see, and washing them, making them clean."
So, in the midst of life with all it's ups and downs, I find it challenging to "out-give, out-do, out-serve," to not be selfish, and to hear and swallow the words of 1 Corinthians 13 about love, among other things. Yet I know it is right and will "bring honor and glory to Him." Therefore, I pray to receive what was shown to me through my little friend -- child-like faith and love -- in order to then show all others what was ultimately given to me -- forgiveness of sins through Christ.
