The Wide Eyed Wonder of a Child

I’m still in Austin with my two youngest grandsons and, I’ll admit, I’m holding on to their child-like ways. They still want their Super Brennan and Super Bryson stories, and Bryson still wants to sleep with me and they still pull off some of those imaginary super-hero antics.

I know these days are numbered. Before long, they’ll figure out all that magical stuff is, well, magic. Their older brother, Barrett, was here with the younger brothers at Easter while their Mom and Dad were out of town. He had the responsibility of handling their “usual” early Sunday morning Easter egg hunt before going to church. So, in all innocence, big brother asked Bryson, the youngest, where he’d like him to hide the eggs – “in the front yard or the back?” To Bryson’s utter dismay, he cried “You mean the Easter bunny isn’t real??” Suddenly, the Easter bunny reality and that wide-eyed wonder became teary-eyed disappointment.

Wednesday night, I watched the finale of “America’s Got Talent” and saw two pre-teen girls vie for 1st place. Keep in mind there were extraordinary "adult" talents, but a 12-year old girl who, once-upon-a-time, was shy and awkward, and hid behind her puppets, saw the vision of herself changed and became proficient at her talent of ventriloquism and singing -- so much so that her act won herself $1 million and a show in Las Vegas.

Never have I seen so many gifted children stepping up in their talents and abilities and becoming incredible performers, artists, actors, and musicians as I am today. In fact, last year’s winning act was a young girl who sang and played the fiddle. Those who vote for those kids, realize how extraordinary their talents are at such young ages.

There’s something about children that God wants us to see. We who have lived a few decades know what it is like to have made mistakes and now we tend to be over cautious and leave little room for spontaneity. That’s not the case with children. The future is wide open for them, and they seem to know it. Wide-eyed with wonder, filled with potential, they are ready to try new things and see the possibilities all around them.

Unhindered by the past, they are free to chase after whatever the future holds. That’s the childlike spirit that God wants to give all of us. God doesn’t want any of us to think that we are too old, too wounded, too limited, too whatever. None of us are so bound by our past that God can’t open new doors for us in the future. Our Father has great plans for us. He has a future full of hope laid out for us. Now it’s up to us to run into that future with all the confidence of a little child!

Matthew 18:2-4 “Jesus called a little child to him. He stood the child before the followers. Then he said, “I tell you the truth. You must change and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.”