Eternally Grateful
Five-year-old Emma has become quite adept at expressing her gratitude to God in her nightly prayers: "Thank you for our home; thank you for our family; thank you for our teachers; thank you for our toys; thank you for our sins ... ."
Keeping It Light
Emma and her preschool friend Alysssa were playing nearby recently when they noticed me working on my Relay for Life cupcake display. The colorful stained glass window graphic I was framing caught their eye, so I read the girls the quote in the center of the picture: "People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the light is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within."
Sensing the opportunity for a teachable moment, I asked the girls if they knew what that quote meant. Exchanging confused looks, Emma and Alyssa shook their heads no.
I explained that we can have light inside us and asked them if they knew where the light would come from. Again, they were perplexed, so I gave them a hint: "Who does the Bible say is the Light of the World?"
Alyssa brightened and offered tentatively, "God?"
I nodded, encouraging the girls, "Jesus. Jesus is the Light."
At this, Emma wrinkled her face in dismay, shocked at what she had just heard: "The light in us is Cheez-Its?"
Broken Up About It
My sweet girl Emma is so affectionate. "Oh, Mommy," she said recently as she clasped my hand, "I love you in pieces."
"Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it." -- Henry Ward Beecher
