Out of the Mouths of Babes

In celebration of Easter, Abe and I are reading to the children the verses in the Bible leading up to Christ's death and resurrection.  Last night we read in Matthew about Christ cleansing the temple.  After he cleansed it, the children cried, "Hosanna to the son of David."

Matthew 21:16 goes on to say, "And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?"  I explained to my children that many times children are filled with the Spirit and teach us great things.

By their pure understanding and simple perspectives, my children gave me huge smiles and outbursts of laughter today.  They also deeply touched my heart as I recognized how much I have yet to learn.

Jackson's Perspective- Age 11

Our house was a mess today!  We had clothes everywhere from our trip.  I used my keys to run out to the van to gather more suitcases; after I came in, I set my keys down somewhere amidst the disaster.  When it was time for Jackson to go to his drum lessons, I couldn't find my keys anywhere!

The sidewalks were cleared off, so I told him to hop on his bike and ride like the wind!!  He did with no hesitation.  It was three miles away, and he had a cell phone to call me when he arrived.  I prayed for his safety the entire time he was gone.  Abe left work a little early and picked him up after his lessons.

When Jackson arrived home I asked him if he was cold riding his bike in the 30 something degree temperatures.  His reply:  "...the hail made it worse."

"It was hailing?"  I exclaimed.  Oh I felt horrible!  When he left it wasn't hailing!!  I told him how sorry I was.

He said, "That's ok!  I had a lot of fun!  I made it like an adventure riding in the storm.  I kept saying my body is not 98 degrees anymore.  Now it's 97 degrees, and now it's probably like 86 degrees!"

I was amazed at his attitude.  He really did find fun doing something that could have been a very grouchy situation had I been thrown in it.

Jordan's Perspective- Age 7

Jordan returned from washing dishes and loading the dishwasher.  Instead of complaining about the big task he had been laboring on for quite some time, he very thoughtfully said, "If you ever see a dishwasher named 'Sunshine,' don't buy it!  What they're really saying is, 'WASH THE DISHES, SUNSHINE!!'"  I laughed so hard because he was right... our dishwasher really is quite crummy and useless, so we have to wash everything twice.  His humor in the situation brought great joy to the home.

Tyson's Perspective- Age 9

Tyson sat down at the computer late this morning and felt an urge to write the things of his heart.  Receiving absolutely no prodding from me, this is what he wrote:

GODS CREATIONS

"One day I woke up to a bright and shiny

day. It was snowing! What a surprise. We

had just got done with the winter and had

gone into the spring, and it was snowing.

We were all disappointed, but snow is

a miracle! It’s one of God’s creations.

Without snow we could not go sledding,

go Ice Skating, or go skiing. Snow can be

really fun.

In the Summer time I always hope it’s

the winter, and in the Winter I always

hope it’s the Summer. I think I’ll just be

grateful with whatever season it is. I am

grateful for all of God’s creations. I am

grateful for his love."

Hearing wise perspectives formulated in a child's mind gives me more courage to apply those perspectives in my life knowing they had to have come from God and "out of the mouth of Babes."