The Secret Place

“Unless you become like a child you will not inherit the Kingdom of heaven.”

~Jesus

It seems once we hit the teen years we always want to be in the next phase of life.

For Example:

When we are teenagers we want to be adults so our opinions will be respected and we can be trusted with responsibility.

When we are adults we remember those worry free years and wonder why the heck we wanted to grow up so fast.

When we are single, we want to be married.

When we are married we remember the care-freeness of being single.

We wish we had children; then when we have them we remember the time to ourselves we had before them.

We want careers; once we get the career we can’t wait to retire.

Once we retire we feel useless and want to be needed again.

And we go out of the world the way we came in: toothless, hairless, and needing someone else to change our diaper.

I think the only phase in our lives we don’t want to move from is being a child. I remember when I turned 12 I was terrified of growing up, of going into junior high, of packing away the Barbies and my little ponies that I had spent the last 9 years of my life playing with (I think I may have waited until I was a freshman to actually store them away). I just wanted to be a kid, but I felt school and friends and society pulling me to grow up.

Some of my greatest memories are of my childhood.

My sister Amber (who is 17 months older) and I spent every waking moment together. We would wake up, eat breakfast and head outside to explore the barns that our Mommy told us not to go in (for fear of them falling in on us). We would play pretend, and play with our bunnies Brownie and Blackie (we were geniuses when it came to naming our pets). Then we would run inside and catch an episode of Batman & Robin, then run upstairs to continue playing “Days of Our Lives” with our Barbies and My Little Ponies. Summers were filled with fun, swimming, playing with our cousins and soaking up the sun.

During my childhood my dad worked a lot to provide for us, but I never remember worrying about provision for a moment, I just remember that he would give us wild horse rides and bull rides, or play tick-tock with us when he got home from work. My mom was sick for most of our childhood with ulcerative colitis and blood clots, but I don’t remember her complaining, just being selfless and taking care of us.

Life was worry free and wonderful.

I believe that is why Jesus was so adamant about us becoming like children.

Why?

Because as a child I didn’t worry if I was going to have money for my next house payment or meal, I knew “my daddy’s got it.” It was trust in my father.

We need to learn to trust our Heavenly Father; we need to realize that He is going to take care of us. In my own life, we live by faith, from check to check, concert to concert, and there are times when it just gets down to the last dollar and I say, “Daddy, circumstances are looking a little grim–but I trust you. You are rarely early and never late.” And he hasn’t disappointed me yet; He is always right on time.

I always say, “If He fails me this time, it will be the first time.”

I think there are so many things we need to extract from this scripture of becoming like a child. Being a mom makes me realize how boring we are as adults. We don’t play anymore and we aren’t adventurous anymore. When is the last time you went exploring? The last time you swung on a swing? Or flew a kite? Or whatever it was in your childhood that made your world go round?

There is something so exhilarating about becoming like a child. I recently got tired of being so boring to my kids. I realized deep inside I love to pretend to go shopping with Eva (she pretends to buckle me in a car seat); I love building towers and watching Luik knock them down; I love having a big tent set up in our living room that they can camp in. It’s just that for so long I’ve had to “grow up,” I’ve been bogged down by the cares of this world and have forgotten what it is like to be like a child. I am so concerned with the everyday, day-to-day chores and bills, that I forget to just live!

Granted, you can’t just throw your bills to the wind and say you trust God to find them and pay them. I’m saying, however, to trust, believe, love, follow, forgive and be adventurous like a child would be.

A child really knows how to live.

When I am with Jesus, I must become like a child–I must have child like faith.

Attributes of A Child:

∂ A child is excited to see their Father.
∂ Children are sure and secure in who they are
∂ A child is grateful for the smallest gift.
∂ A child has great faith and believes easily.
∂ A child follows well.
∂ A child is eager to learn.
∂ A child loves unconditionally.
∂ A child forgives easily.
∂ A child has a heart filled with adventure.

So next time you find yourself wrapped and entangled with the cares and concerns of life, step away from your desk, put the phone down, close the laptop, put on some normal clothes and go buy some Legos. Buy a Happy Meal for yourself. Or buy a collector’s addition Barbie or G.I. Joe, fly a kite, make a fort, or just take a walk and soak in the beauty of the Father who created it all for you. And remember to take a deep breath and live a little.

I’m going outside to run around in the giant snowflakes.

Thanks for reading,

Jenniferlee