Do you remember what it was like to
see the world through the eyes of a child—the excitement of picking out
whichever candy bar you wanted from rows upon rows of choices at the gas
station; having your eyes opened to the immense pleasure of undiscovered worlds
during your first visit to the movie theatre; the joy found in digging for
buried treasure in the dirt under park benches?
I love how kids tend to see the world with such purity,
simplicity, and wonder. And I love that my job gives me the opportunity to see
the world through their eyes so much of the time. I was most recently reminded
of this while taking some of the teenagers from the Bonfil community to youth
group at my church. It was a whole new world for them: a water dispenser with
funny little red plastic cups, swiveling air conditioners, blue Bibles with
doves stamped with black ink on the pages, new songs, the expectation to sit
and listen quietly—SO much newness, both overwhelming and invigorating for
them.
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| Oscar prays for peace and harmony |
None of them go to church, and while some of them have been
on special holidays, none of them had ever been to a church like this. And
while I struggled to keep them quiet and attentive, painfully aware of the
backward glances and whispers from others each time my kids giggled
inappropriately or made a snide comment or said they were tired of sitting in
the class and wanted to play, I was overcome with love for my kids when the
teacher asked what we would ask God for if we could ask for one thing. Other
teens asked for Xboxes, a cello, play stations. My boy leaned over to me and
whispered “peace and harmony”.
I was, again, overwhelmed by tenderness when the
teacher asked us to turn to Joshua 1:9 in our Bibles. I smiled, knowing that
this was one of the verses that my kids had memorized. When the teacher began
to read the verse, one of my boys pushed past three of the other students,
grabbed my arms, and with a look of absolute amazement exclaimed “Sarah! I know
this verse! It’s the one we learned together! It really is in the Bible!” I
couldn’t hold back my laughter as he tore through the pages looking for Matthew
6:9-13 (the Lord’s Prayer), another passage we had memorized.
So after a night of new experiences and saying goodbye to
the teacher who thanked me for bringing “my” kids, who he agreed are “full of
life”, we got back into the van and headed home. It was pure excitement the
whole way back—“We loved it!” they shouted.
“Won’t you please take us with you
on Sunday, too, Sarah—please!” begged one girl.
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| Three Teens from the Bonfil Community |
“I made friends with the boy next
to me today, Sarah, his name is Jeffery.” interrupted the boy sitting next to
her.
“Who wants to go back again next
week?” I asked.
“ME!!!” they all shouted in
harmony. And I just smiled, happy to be in a van full of teens who beg to go to
church and are delighted by finding verses they know in Bibles and who take
little red plastic drinking cups home from churches as souvenirs to show their
moms.
