Kid Lenses

Matthew 18:3-4 "Then he said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."

Years ago, when photos were still taken on rolls of stuff called film, I would go to the Walmart and drop off a few rolls and return a few days later to pick up the developed pictures. I can remember going through them in the car,  unable to wait till I got home, excited to see which ones turned out well and how many blank, black prints there might be.

On one of these occasions, I found a group of photos that were kind of bizarre. I certainly hadn't taken them. A crooked photo of one of the boys' toy spiders with Tyler's "passie" in the background. A close-up of the kitchen table in which my eyes were drawn to the table lip and the grain of the wood. Another close-up of the kitchen sink and the caulk used to keep water from leaking underneath it. [I'm glad it looked clean]. Then, one photo of carpet fibers so close up that I could see the braiding. It made me laugh.

Brian had apparently stolen a few moments with my camera and I was seeing a group of photographs taken from his short, fiver-year-old point of view. I just sat there in the car for a moment - all other prints from that single roll of film were forgotten as I repeatedly reviewed the few that B had taken. For those brief, few shots, I could see what he saw. I was in his little, short, and glorious world of wonder.

Today I was reminded of this when I read the words from G.K.Chesteron's book Orthodoxy. He said: "How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it."

Isn't THAT the truth? Jesus even tells us this in Matthew 18:3-4. We will be greatest when we can become humble as little children are humble.

My boys are bigger now, both of them tower over me - but when they were little, if they needed something, anything, they would ask me for it. It was just that simple. They asked me to meet their needs and I could, very simply, meet them.

There are moments when I want to go back to those years. To see them, small and precious. I also want that for myself sometimes....to go back, when I was small and things were simple.

In our hearts - that's the way it SHOULD be. How much larger our world would be if we could be smaller in it? If I could forget myself and serve others. If I forget myself and those self-centered parts of me could be smaller as Christ is larger in my life. The world WOULD be bigger. There would be more room for God to use me because I wouldn't be so wrapped up in the things that take my time - things that might not really be all that important on the grander scale.