The Faith of a Child

"Train up a child in the way they should go and, when they are old, they will not part from it." - Proverbs 22:6

My daughter and I traveled to Michigan last weekend to pick up a trailer. My wife normally would have accompanied me but she had promised to babysit our grandson. That's okay. I was looking forward to the time my daughter and I could spend together.

Time spent with younger generations can be a valuable teaching time as we older, wiser folks impart wisdom to the younger generation. However, it was us elders that got taught a lesson on Saturday by one of the youngest members of our family - my grand niece Hayley.

We were gathering around the table for dinner. My brother-in-law was sick, my daughter and I had been on the road for seven our and we all were tired and hungry. To make things worse, my sister made an amazing meal of chicken, stuffing, green beans and carrots. Mmm.

Suddenly, a young lady's voice could be heard above all the forks and knives.

"Hey! We didn't pray!"

Busted.

My family usually prays before a meal but we didn't do it that day. Whether it was our hunger or our tiredness, our sickness or our forgetfulness, it just didn't happen. And we had just been called out by a three year old kid. Nice.

So what does this short little story tell us? Well,  for one thing, my little niece clearly has been trained in the ways of the Lord. That's a good thing, like the opening verse said. But it also tells us something about us adults.

Were we only thinking of ourselves? Or our stomachs? Or were we forgetting who provided everything that was sitting on the table before us?

We as a family were thankful for the reminder of a child. We listened and we prayed.

"18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." - Matthew 18:1-5
Even the smallest child can teach . . . if we have ears to hear. May we ALL have a the faith of a little child. Never questioning, never doubting, always trusting.

May we take our time and pray.

The Words I Would Say - Sidewalk Prophets
Jesus Loves The Little Children