Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Amusing Innocence of a Child

I've been brought up in a Christian home from the day I was born. My mom and dad taught us about Jesus and the stories of the Bible as soon as we could understand them.
But then it started coming to the time when we would branch out.... we couldn't rely on our parent's faith. We had to believe for ourselves. I became a Christian when I was 6 years old, but needless to say, there's a lot you don't know or understand when you're 6. But my parents still instilled in me and my brother the importance of reading our Bible, praying, and the like. Well, when I was 8 years old, I decided it was high time for me to start using a prayer journal. And looking back now, I love seeing how small and innocent the desires and worries of a child are.
For example, here are some prayer requests I had one day soon after I started my prayer journal - "That my fish will be O.K. [note - my pet fish at the time usually looked like they were about to expire], that I will win a sweepstates [I meant sweepstakes] to American Girl place, that I will win my award for the birds study soon, that I can play with my dolls today, and that I will have a good nights rest tomorrow." You see. My prayer requests were rather childish. Flipping through I chuckle to myself at the way I put things. Like this: "That I will be able to play with my bear today (but he is small)." Or another one, "That I will get bunnies (two)." I was also quite a specific child, "That I will finish school at 3:00 or 3:30." Why did it have to be exactly 3 or 3:30? Couldn't it have been 2:45? Wouldn't that have made me more happy? Ah, the mind of a child is amusing.
But nonetheless....
I grew up.
And I stopped praying that I would be able to play with my toys.
And I went a little farther and a little bit deeper.

Paul was right, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." ~1 Corinthians 13:11

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