A child's heart

Just recently we've had two very sweet girls give us money for our adoption.  One little girl had a lemonade stand and told her mom she wanted to give the money she made to us.  The other little girl took the money out of her piggy bank and also told her parents she wanted us to have it.  My first instinct was to say no.  I wanted to tell the parents how sweet it was for their children to think of us, but please let them keep their money.  After that thought I was reminded that these children are giving from their heart.  And, if I said no I would have crushed their spirit of giving.

Already at such a young age their heart of giving is enormous.  I can be emotional, like, really emotional.  I cry very easily and this was no exception.  Their gift of giving reminded me so much of the woman Jesus talked about when she gave all that she had for her offering.  She was a widow and gave everything she had.  Jesus used this parable to show us how the rich gave the surplus of what they had, but the widow gave everything she had in the name of Jesus and that is exactly what these precious children did.

Often times our children teach us so much if we are just willing to learn from them.  So many times we hear that we did such an amazing thing for Judah.  It's hard for me to believe that for so many reasons.  Because of Judah we have learned so much more than I could ever have imagined before we brought him home.  God has used his adoption to teach us about His love for us.  He has used adoption to teach us about unconditional love.  He has used adoption to open our eyes to so much more beyond small town Iowa.  I am more globally aware than I ever was before.  I heard stories of what third world countries were like, but because of adoption we were able to experience it and because of it my heart will forever be changed.

God has a special place in His heart for children and it's so easy to see why.  I think God uses our children to open our eyes, to be more receptive to what He is laying on their hearts because often times they are not over-analyzing things.  They just go with what they are feeling.

Another example of a child's heart would be Hope. When Judah came home it was easy to say that our family was complete.  We had our fourth child home.  And, life was full.  It wasn't long after Judah came home that Hope began praying for another sibling.  I blew it off at first.  After all, we'd only been home with Judah a short time, how could we possibly think about adding a fifth child?  I just told her to keep praying for God's guidance on what He wanted for our family.  She never let up.  And, Jeremy's heart and my heart never closed on the idea of opening our home to another child.  I knew it would seem crazy to most people to add a fifth, but really felt like God was using Hope to keep our hearts open to His will.  I think Jeremy and I both knew all along that there was room for one more in our home, we just were too afraid to take that next step.

Maybe that's why I love kids so much.  I want to be more like them in their faith.  :)  So, the next time your child says something to you that seems crazy, take a moment to really listen to them.  They may be telling you something that God is laying on their heart.  And, if you listen to them, you might just be surprised at how blessed you are because of what their heart is telling them.