This past Tuesday, I found myself on a school bus with two children sleeping on me. If you asked me a month ago what I thought the most significant moment of my month in Indonesia would look like, it for sure wouldn’t be this. However, God has a funny way of speaking the most profound things in the most unlikely situations and through the most unlikely vessels.
God connected me and my team with a staff member of a local school by a miraculous event last week and through that connection, we were invited to help teach classes and love on the children there. The first day that we came, some of the classes went on a field trip to an aquarium and I got to join them. As we got on the school bus, there wasn’t enough room for me to have my own seat so I sat next to one child while another one sat on my lap. These children became infatuated with my G-Shock watch because it has a button that lights up the screen. The whole way to the aquarium, the child sitting next to me kept pressing it and cupping his hand over the watch to see it better. When we eventually made it to our destination, I figured he had had enough of my watch light. I was wrong.
As soon as we stepped foot back on the bus to return to the school, the child sitting next to me grabbed my arm to begin pressing the button again. The child on my lap became very interested as well and both children began taking turns. Intrigued by the level of satisfaction and determination these children had seeing my watch light up, I started encouraging and helping them. Eventually, they began to fight over who got to the press the button more often and I had to separate their hands and tell them to stop. Soon, I felt the little guy next to me lay his head on my arm. I realized he was tired and that probably fueled some of his frustration towards the end of the watch game he was playing. The child on my lap showed some pre-nap frustration too as he tried to push the other boy away from my arm. Moving the child on my lap from my left thigh to my right thigh, he began to fall sleep with his head against my chest.
For the next 20 minutes on the bus, both children slept on me while I stayed as still as I could to keep them comfortable. There were multiple times when I was personally uncomfortable but I found it more important for them to have peaceful rest than for me to have a comfortable bus ride. While this was happening and I looked at each child to make sure he was sleeping well, God began to speak to me. For that 20 minutes, I was seeing God’s fathering heart from his perspective. These children weren’t doing anything to “earn” a peaceful nap. They actually were very disruptive and mean to each other. However, the moment they decided to rest in my arms I couldn’t help but want them to have the best nap possible. I also loved their excitement with my watch and wanted to be with them and help them press the button better.
I believe that God’s heart and nature is revealed most clearly in the moments that we love others the best. Tuesday, I felt that love from God as, I hope, these two little ones did too. Don’t forget to find rest in God’s arms. He never neglects a child and has called us each to have faith like one.
