CYC Ya Soon!

       I am feeling so loved right now.  So loved that it is overpowering the stress I have been feeling.  Today I worked my last shift at the Center for Young Children until next Fall.  I was done working right at the end of nap-time so all of the kids were just waking up.  I went to a few of the kids who I had really bonded with and told them that I wouldn't see them again until the Fall. There reactions were so bittersweet.

The CYC is pictured above
Jesus and I are below

       One little girl was still drowsily lying on her cot when I told her to get up and give me a hug!  She stayed on her cot lying down until I said, “I am going home for the summer I don’t get to see you until next year!” at which point she bolted up, looped her arms around my neck, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  I told her to be a good girl and finish up her cot jobs (the kids' wake-up routine).  She went back to her work and told me goodbye.

       My favorite little boy (I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but I can’t help it) came and sat on my lap.  He asked me where I was going.  He wanted to know why I had to leave for a WHOLE season.  I told him I was going to go and spend the summer with my parents, he said, “oh no you aren't ” and grabbed my finger, “I gotcha!”  I told him I had to leave and would be back in the Fall when he was bigger.  He replied, “I’m going to die!”  After assuring him that he wouldn't die while I was away he decided that instead of dying he would become a grownup like me over the summer.

       What a gift God has given us in children.  These little people are able to express themselves fully because they aren't censored my social norms and complicated taboos.  They love purely and share their love without holding back.  It is no wonder that Jesus encouraged us to have the faith of a child.  Walking out the door my heart broke a little because I knew the next time I saw these kids they would be a little bit older and a little bit farther along the journey of life.  I wondered when it became inappropriate to crawl into the lap of someone I loved.  When do we become too big to offer up pure love to people we don’t have romantic feelings for?   When do we cross that line from childhood into adulthood? 

      I decided that there isn't a straight line that we cross; growing up is like climbing a mountain.  It is gradual, difficult, fun, and when you get to the top you enjoy the beauty of the view and know that the climb was totally worth it.  The beauty of scaling the mountain with Jesus at your side is that he doesn't mind if you want to climb into his lap.  We are forever his children and we are free to love him without holding back, and he returns the favor! 

       When do you think childhood ends?  Have you experienced overpowering love?  What does it mean to have the faith of a child?  Comments? Questions? Suggestions?  Drop me a line in the comments below!