Musings: four-year-olds and God
June 3, 2011
Earlier this spring, I began leading Chapel for the preschool at St Stephens Episcopal Church in Catlett VA. I have truly enjoyed my time with these children. They are all such a blessing; full of love, wonder and the joy of life! Now that the school year is almost over, I have been reflecting on my time spent with them. Here are a few memories of our shared time together.
I remember on my first day when we were all seated in the church. A little four yr old boy, stood up, walked out of his pew and stood directly in front of where I was sitting. He gave me a quick smile and then gave me the sweetest, biggest hug. This spontaneous welcome and greeting took me by surprise. His endearing hug was completely unsolicited. We had not even been introduced yet. I hadn’t even told the children my name. Upon reflection I pondered this question: Wasn’t his hug similar to the way God greets us? When we are far off in our own little world, not really paying attention, God is always willing and ready to meet us in prayer before we’ve even said a word, or told God our name.
I then proceeded to introduce myself and asked them to guess how many children that my husband and I have. A lot of hands went in the air, and I praised them for having such wonderful manners. I was expecting them to all shout out numbers like “2″ or “3″. Yet, this did not happen. I called on a sweet little girl in pink, who proudly stood up, and said,” I know how many children you have!” and beginning with herself, she began to count each child in the room. I was quiet when she patiently counted each child. ” ….10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15! You have 15 children!!”
The preschool teachers and I glanced at each other and smiled. “Yes, you are right”
I said “in God’s family I do have all of you!”
When thinking about this later on, I was reminded of the interconnectedness of living in Christian community. While I was looking for a number (four to be exact, as my husband and I have four children) God was tapping me on the shoulder and reminding me of how we all belong to one another though a triune God. All of this happened by spending twenty minutes with a preschool class. Out of the mouths of babes….
