{"id":1205,"date":"2012-09-02T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2012-09-02T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1205"},"modified":"2012-08-19T00:15:48","modified_gmt":"2012-08-19T05:15:48","slug":"little-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1205","title":{"rendered":"Little Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Having just returned from a visit with my cute-as-a-button four-year-old granddaughter Sophia, I am once again reminded of why Jesus said, \u201cLet the children come to me\u2026those who can\u2019t receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it.\u201d (Mark 10:13-16)<\/p>\n

Jesus is telling us there is a lot we can learn from children. So much in fact that I\u2019m convinced we should make an effort to be around or even play with little ones periodically or we forget what Jesus is talking about. Matthew 18: 2 goes so far as to say that unless we become as little children we won\u2019t inherit the Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Those of us blessed with children have a built in opportunity to see them in action. Unfortunately, when our children are young we\u2019re usually so busy trying to feed, clothe, and provide for them that we can be too tired to appreciate what they have to offer. I managed to write down a few of the cute things my own children said but I must admit I was so pre-occupied with life that I missed a lot.<\/p>\n

I do remember when Grandma (we called her Nana) Dahlgren died our daughter Sherisa was a preschooler. In the midst of our sadness she said, \u201cWhy is everyone so gloomy? Nana\u2019s with Jesus, isn\u2019t she?\u201d Out of the mouths of babes and into our hearts \u2013 her words helped us see the bigger picture.<\/p>\n

It reminds me of the Sunday School teacher who asked her students, \u201cWhat do you need to do to get to heaven.\u201d The intention was probably to have them focus on doing good deeds and living a moral life. However one little boy managed to cut through all of that and give the definitive answer. He said, \u201cYou have to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that I have a little more time on my hands I find grandchildren an absolute delight. They don\u2019t mind being transparent and uninhibited. They openly trust, love, laugh, cry, hope, sing, endure, dance, ponder and generally enjoy life to the fullest. Not only do they help adults keep perspective they share their perspective as well.<\/p>\n

For example last Christmas when my husband adjusted Sophia\u2019s chair so she could more easily enjoy Christmas dinner she declared in a loud voice, \u201cYou\u2019re a genius, Grandpa!\u201d Do you know how good it feels to have someone actually think you are genius? This has become quite a catch phrase at our house. When my husband or I do something note worthy we praise each other with, \u201cYou\u2019re a genius!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophia, like your grandchildren I\u2019m sure, is so smart \u2013 and very literal. Here are some choice responses her mom shared with us in a recent email.<\/p>\n

Babysitter: \u201cWhat a nice toy; where did you get that?\u201d
\nSophia: \u201cFrom the toy box\u201d (with a \u2018you idiot\u2019 expression on her face).<\/p>\n

Daddy: \u201cDeal, let\u2019s shake on it.\u201d
\nSophia pauses, thinks and then shakes her behind!<\/p>\n

As she\u2019s slowly climbing the stairs after a hard day of play: \u201cWe need a faster house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surgery nurse when Sophia was to have tubes from her ears removed explaining she would need to breathe from a mask: \u201cCan you breathe?\u201d
\nSophia: \u201cYes, and when I\u2019m angry I do deep breaths.\u201d (Yeah! She has been listening.)<\/p>\n

Checking in for surgery, the nurse asked Sophia: \u201cYou are so cute. How did you get to be so cute?\u201d
\nNot missing a beat, Sophia said: \u201cWell, Daddy planted a seed in Mommy…”\u00a0 (She didn\u2019t get to explain any further because mom and the nurse were ROFL.)<\/p>\n

At preschool, out of the blue and not in context to anything, Sophia told her teacher Miss Dee: \u201cI love my mommy; she takes good care of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, as children grow they learn to be a little more guarded with responses \u2013 and that\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing. Although I wonder sometimes if God wouldn\u2019t love it if we threw our arms up in the air and spontaneously declared, \u201cYou\u2019re a genius, Father!\u201d Or out of the blue we sincerely pronounced, \u201cI love you, Father! You take such good care of me!\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true we should all grow up and mature, but at the same time we are still God\u2019s children. I guess it wouldn\u2019t hurt to occasionally be like a little child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having just returned from a visit with my cute-as-a-button four-year-old granddaughter Sophia, I am once again reminded of why Jesus said, \u201cLet the children come to me\u2026those who can\u2019t receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}