Matthew 18:1-10 (NIV)
Matthew 18(2-5)
2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
Several years ago, when I first became a teacher I had a little girl in my classroom, we'll call her Melissa. Melissa was a good student, not overly gifted but she applied herself and always went the extra mile.
Melissa's mother had been into drugs and bounced in and out of prison. Melissa's father was disinterested and often would miss his weekend visitations. Melissa would always come in Friday excited about how her daddy was coming to get her and Monday, more often than not, I would spend the morning drying tears of disappointment.
One Friday morning, Melissa came into class excited about the prospects of a great weekend. She was spouting off how her dad was coming to the basketball game to see her cheer and how much fun they would have going to his house after the game. It happened that the game Melissa was cheering had several of the boys from my class on the teams and it was a perfect opportunity for me to see several of my kids in action.
I love going to see my students compete and perform their extra curricular activities. It is one of the joys of teaching to see the looks and smiles on your students faces when you get the chance to visit an event like this. Students light up and when they see you have come to see them play. Melissa was no different, she came bounding across the court and gave me a huge hug.
Monday morning, as the rest of the class walked out to go to there special classes, Melissa turned around and ran back into the room. She wrapped me (at least as far as her arms could reach around) in an embrace and the warm tears began to fall as the words, "I wish you were my daddy" came through gentle sobs.
I held her close and said nothing, I didn't want her to see the tears streaming down my own face as my heart broke.
Melissa taught me many things. She had a great personality, and a wonderful outlook on life. She could have dwealt all the time on the bad, on the missing, on the hardship. She didn't. Most of the time she was happy, even bubbly. She cared for her friends and classmates and showed it every chance she got. Melissa taught me that life does not need to be going right for you to be thankful for what you have.
Melissa taught me that love does not only happen when you feel loved. It would have been easy for this little girl to lock her heart away. She could have chosen to stop feeling because she so often felt only pain, but she chose to love freely and without hesitation.
Finally, she taught me how lucky I was not only to have a father and mother on earth that loved me, but to have a Father in heaven who loves me. God is not only a creator. He does not make us and then wash his hands of us. God is everywhere, all the time, and eagerly desires that his children seek him and commune with him. What a gift that is, that the Father of the Universe says "I love you" , that he makes every game, that he loves unconditionally and is always interested! Thanks be to Abba (the Father).
Posted by My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter at 7:27 PM
1 comments:
fruit-cupcake said...
Wow, how heart warming that a child coming from those circumstances would choose to live instead of just exist. She should be an inspiration to us all. May we pray that no matter life's turns Melissa is able to maintain her innocent faith.
Good job, MB/JC, what a wonderful way to display God's love in a little girl's life. I hope you planted a seed that is being watered till this day!!
No comments:
Post a Comment