This is something I wrote years ago…but for some reason, it speaks to my heart today. I hope that it encourages someone…
– Luke 18:16, 17
Then, with a sparkle in her eye, one exclaimed to the other, “Come here! Let me show you something!” The girls ran a few steps to a small grassy field blanketed in yellow flowers. They kicked off their shoes and began dancing and playing amidst the flowers, smiling and giggling with glee.
I watched as they played, pretending they were fashion models with flowers between their teeth, in their hair, and wrapped like jewelry around their necks and arms. The little girls’ ecstasy was enchanting and exhilarating.
Soon, the twosome skipped through the blossoms and scooped up large handfuls of the blooms and threw them in the air! At first, my heart broke at the thought of the flowers being yanked up by the roots…I wondered how other little girls could enjoy them? But the field was rich and healthy and I was soothed by the thought that other flowers would grow there. There will be more flowers and more girls and more dances.
As I watched, I wondered…when did I change? When did I stop taking off my shoes? When did I stop skipping? When did I become more afraid of briars and stickers than of apathy? When did picking flowers become sacrilegious?
In Luke 18:16, 17 Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
The Lord calls me to go barefoot more often and to worry less about stickers, to skip more, to pick more flowers, to smile and giggle more, and share it all with a friend. He wants me to desire to be so close to the object of my joy and delight that I plunge myself headlong into His ever open arms.
In His sight, I am a “princess on parade” and His Kingdom has come! I will receive it with joy, gladness and wonder!
