God of Small Things - Day 12

Yes, it's a super cute picture of my children when they were very young (they are 19 and nearly 16 years old now) - I love these two with all my heart, and miss them greatly as they live with their mother in the UK now. 

And though I love this picture because it's so very cute (they are still extremely wonderful) I put it here because it reminds me of something powerful and important. I have learned so much over my lifetime from children - not just my own astounding children, but all the children I have worked with in Schools and Churches, in the North East of England, London, Cambridge, Devon and all over. 

I remember particularly being pulled back to the joy and wonder of the world by the way in which my own children would see things around them, a way which I had lost or forgotten in my own journey into adulthood. Being drawn back into the realisation of the colours within a flower, the coolness of a summer breeze, the joy of watching a creepy-crawly wander over a log means learning to see the world anew, seeing the wonder in each moment, and for that lesson - taught me again and again by my own and other children - I am profoundly grateful. 

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.         Matthew 19.13-15

                 

                                                                        Alastair Singh-McCollum