"The soul is healed by being with children." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Remember what it's like to do something for the first time? It can be kind of intimidating, scary, but exciting, too. I still feel that way when I do something new. But usually I end up really liking it, especially the learning part of it, and the feeling of accomplishment. Sometimes it's easy to forget that for our kids there are SO many things that may be "old hat" to us, but brand new to them. It is so much fun to see things through their eyes! Things like when we saw a turkey vulture up close and Kathryn realized how BIG they really are! Or today, when we went bowling for our young friend Drew's 8th birthday. I don't think any of the kids there had ever been bowling, and they were fun to watch. It didn't matter that there were bumper guards to prevent gutter balls... there was real victory when somebody knocked over more than a couple of pins, and lots of cheering for each other! Kathryn got a couple of spares! Here she's watching the ball travelling down the lane... 
And then the happy face of accomplishment:
It cheers me, gives me joy (even when everyone is still using their ice-cream-and-cookie-enhanced OUTSIDE voice inside!) to see kids being kids. It's so amazing to see their individual personalities, and to try to imagine what in the world God has planned for them to do. And I love the genuineness of children. I think part of what Jesus meant when he told us that we must be like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven, is that we must have that wonder and excitement about things, and that we must be genuine like they are. I do think the soul is healed by being with children, and that we can learn so much from them. I often forget that, and I'm thankful that the Lord loves me enough to remind me.
And then the happy face of accomplishment:
It cheers me, gives me joy (even when everyone is still using their ice-cream-and-cookie-enhanced OUTSIDE voice inside!) to see kids being kids. It's so amazing to see their individual personalities, and to try to imagine what in the world God has planned for them to do. And I love the genuineness of children. I think part of what Jesus meant when he told us that we must be like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven, is that we must have that wonder and excitement about things, and that we must be genuine like they are. I do think the soul is healed by being with children, and that we can learn so much from them. I often forget that, and I'm thankful that the Lord loves me enough to remind me.
