Monday Morning Memo: Simple, But So Powerful

In just a few hours our home will be very quiet.  Way. Too. Quiet.  The reason is that our grandsons, ages one and almost three, will be going home after spending the last week with us.  We have looked so forward to having them spend these days here and now they are over.   These two boys just bring an abundance of joy to us and we love soaking up every moment that we can with them.

I have learned some things from them this past week.  First of all, I learned that these two little boys have way more energy than I do!  I now know that there is a reason why most of us have our children when we are younger, because keeping up with them at my age is, at times, difficult. 

Secondly, I was reminded that for some reason, a grandma has way more time to play with her grandchildren than she ever had to play with her own children.  With my own children, many of life’s other stresses were always pressing in on me, but as a grandma, my “maturity” has taught me that there are few things more important than being with them.  When my grandson says, “Come on grandma…let’s go play!” it usually doesn’t take me long to drop whatever I am doing and become like a child again playing make believe.

Third, I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears how children’s minds are like sponges.  It just amazes me what they can absorb and learn at such a young age.  I shared on Facebook this past week a conversation that I had with our oldest grandson, Elias, as we ate dinner one evening.  Out of the blue, he looked at me and said,

“Grandma! Jesus is alive!”
Me: “Yes He is Eli…isn’t that wonderful?”
Elias: “Yes! We are all sinners Grandma, but Christ Jesus came to save sinners and He died and now He is alive!”

I sat there amazed that such a young little boy had grasped so much truth.  The next day, he once again looked at me and said, “Grandma, did you know that Mary had a baby in her tummy and it was baby Jesus?  And then later, Jesus rode on a donkey!”  Then my heart swelled when numerous times this past week when we sat down to eat, Elias said, “I’ll pray, I’ll pray!”  He would then bow his head, fold his hands and thank Jesus for our food.  Oh how wonderful that the truths of God’s Word are being instilled in this precious boy by his parents and by dedicated adults who teach him each week at his church.

This made me realize that I think that too often, we make sharing with others about our Jesus way too complicated.  We fret and stew and worry about what theological words we can muster to make sure someone knows the exact timetable and chronological order of Jesus’ lineage.  Unfortunately, sometimes we get ourselves so worked up and scared that we aren’t going to say the right thing…that we decide to not just say anything at all.  When really, all we would have to say is “Hey, did you know that we are all sinners, but Christ Jesus came to save sinners like you and me?  He died and now He is alive!”  Simple…but oh so powerful.

We read in Matthew 18:2-4, “Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.  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.”  I think it just might be time to pay more attention to those little children around us and learn from their innocent example.  They aren’t worried that they might say something wrong…they are just thrilled to share what they know.  I find that so refreshing.

By the way, I learned one more thing this past week.  I learned that the mood and attitude of little boys can greatly improve by the simple act of taking an afternoon nap.  I think I may just have to learn from them in this area also and take a nap in my way-too-quiet house today J