The Love of Little Children

So 2 days ago on twitter, I was like, "Oh I'm so overdue for a blog, I'll do it today..."
And then I didn't. Like, I wasn't late enough already, I procrastinated again... so I will do it now.

So, while I've already mentioned twitter, I might as well write about a picture from twitter. I am following Natalie Grant, (Singer) and she posted this today:

My very first picture post, I was going to talk about this, but I didn't like the way it turned out, so let's see if I can make this one better.

If you have ever watched young children, then you can understand this. I assume that most of us have.  One thing I have always noticed about little kids is their simple love for everyone around them.  You can go into a day care or a Kindergarten class or the playground and notice this. Young children can make friends with anyone!  These kids don't care about the gender of the person, the color of their skin, their religon, their family, none of it matters to them. All they care about is making that person their new friend. It's so incredible to watch and think about. I think we can all learn something from this.  I'm the kind of person that does not make friends easily. It's really hard for me, I'm not a social person at all. So, watching little kids is really eye opening to me.

I think our biggest mistake is that as we get older, we become more judgmental and our standards for those around us get higher.  As we get older, we care more about the things like race, gender, family history, attitudes, etc. I'm not saying we have to make friends with everyone around us, trust me, I'm not saying that. But, the lesson I think we can learn here is that the little children are more like God, then we are. Little kids have this never ending love for everyone around them. And they're not scared to spread it.  This little girl in the picture is Natalie Grant's daughter, Gracie.  I love her tweet, because it says, "Gracie made a new friend." This little girl met this little boy just a few minutes ago, and now they're friends. It's amazing. An older person would be like, "Well, I met this person. And then there was this and this that I didn't like about them." I'm not saying everyone is like this, but a lot of us wouldn't be quick to call them our new friend.

I love the story I will always remember about my brother: He used to always come home from all these different places and be like, "I made a new friend." And my dad would always ask, "What's his name." My brother's answer would always be, "I don't know, but he's my friend." I love this, because it shows that not even names matter. My brother made a new friend, and whether he knew his name or he was ever going to see him again or not, for that short moment in time, he was his friend.  And he loved him for who he was, no strings attached.

I think that this displays the love of Christ.  God loves everyone, no matter what for who they are.  God made everyone who they are. I think that the way we look at people around us should be more like little children. We look around and make small judgements in our head about everyone around us.  It's harder for us to make new friends because there wil always be a fault in someone.  For little kids, it doesn't matter. They will walk up to anyone, no matter what age and just ask them to play.

My dad has an old friend and her picture on skype has a picture of her little kids, and it says, "Mommy wants to be like us." I'm sure everyone knows the phrase, "I want to be like Mommy." Well, they turned it around.  Little kids don't need to grow up fast. I think we all need to grow up slower. Little kids can enjoy the smallest things in life and be happy.  You tend lose that when you get older, but I don't think you have to.  Love doesn't come with restrictions or judgments. Love is simple. As simple as little kids make it.

*Amy :)