about kids

One of the greatest joys of my life to date has been getting to know, encourage, support and love vulnerable children in Nicaragua.  They have taught me so much and they have made me laugh from the root of my soul so many times I've lost track.  (just spy that little handsome Justin Bieber impersonator above -- I lost it that day)  

Today I was praying for them, thinking of my tiny amigos who feel so far away sometimes.  I was thinking of what a deep and gorgeous gift kids are, how they allow us to dream about the future and give us rest from the small details of worry that come so often with age. 

I was thinking of how blessed I might get to be one day, if I ever get to be a mother myself.  I thought of how magical it must be to see everything again for the first time through the eyes of your child, how endearing to explain to them small things like spelling their name, how fun to have little dance parties in the kitchen while you cook them pancakes into shapes that make them laugh.  

And I thought too of how awesome it is, this responsibility we have as families and communities to raise children, because it mirrors so much the nurturing process going on in our souls.  It reveals to us just how deep and wide and long and high our Father's love for us is.  We get a taste of the fierceness and the loyalty of that love in how we love children, and I think (and hear) that you must come to this beautiful new understanding of love once you have a child of your own.  

I love that the Lord knits into the fabric of our earthly existence these opportunities that teach us about the way He feels for us.  As we build our own families, as we get married and share our lives with friends and love other people we are made beautiful because we are made more like Jesus.  We come closer and closer to understanding the depth with which we are valued and known.  I love the pattern of that.  I love the hope and all the future joy those dreams bring into my life even now.