I have a confession.
Kids aren’t really my thing. I mean, I like kids, but I don’t LOVE kids. I think they’re cute for about 5
minutes and then I’m ready for my attention to be somewhere else. And as I mentioned in a previous blog, I’ve
only very recently warmed up to the idea of having any at all.
Interestingly enough, the World Race has put me in contact
with A LOT of kids.
And there’s been more than one time where I’ve received
affirmation from other people like, “It’s so encouraging to see you work with
the kids� or “I love the joy you have when you are with them.�
It’s pretty crazy to see God transforming my heart and
giving me new passions for his people.
I really didn’t think that I would be hearing things like this from the
people around me.
Yesterday our team went to the home for people with cerebral palsy for the
fourth time. I spent the first
half an hour with my teammate Stacy, and we were working with four people in
wheelchairs- Ruth, Carlos, Virginia, and Sergio. They all have very
distinct personalities that we were finally getting to know. We had fun talking with them and
hanging out with them until it was time for the next activity.
That night Stacy told me that she enjoyed working alongside
me that day, and that my attitude and enthusiasm toward the kids was
“contagious.�
It made me feel pretty awesome. And I agree that it is contagious- because I got it from
someone else.
In the spring of 2009 I studied abroad in Tanzania with
someone who is now one of my very best friends- Alainna.
Alainna LOVES children. In Tanzania, there were a lot of them running around. They constantly ran out to greet us,
wanted to hold our hands, grab our sunglasses, etc.
I tried my best to love them, but inside I didn’t always
want to. Sometimes I didn’t want
their dirty hands to touch me, and I didn’t really care to entertain them.
But Alainna did.
This girl held a lot of grubby little hands, kissed a lot of dirty
faces, and picked up a lot of smiling children. She spread joy like wildfire among every kid she met.
And you know what?
It was absolutely beautiful.
I’ve met a lot of people in my life who love kids and are really great with them. I admire them all, really I do. Somehow during that spring in Tanzania, seeing Alainna with the kids really struck me. I don’t know why, but it did. I thought, if she can love those kids no matter how dirty they are or what language they speak or how loud they scream or whatever, so can I.
What I’ve really taken from making this contagious
connection is this- when it comes to people, there’s no reason to hold back
your love. You never know who is
watching, who is learning.
And who is seeing Jesus because of you.
