Monday, October 24, 2011

dance;)















....As we drove in the dark, we pondered the evening's celebration.
How beautiful when two lives join into one; truly a God thing.

The road was dark before us as we headed into the night. Tbari sat in the front seat, with the windows down. I put my head against the seat behind me, and closed my eyes as the now crisp October air blew gently over my face.
The season of Thankfulness was upon us, and I was thankful.
Thank you God that I got to see my best friends marry one another, thank you God for the amazing group of people you've placed all around me.
I opened my eyes and stared out the window once more, as I leaned up to Tbari's ear.
"What was your favorite part about tonight?" I asked him.
His faint little voice was hard to hear over the open windows on the highway..
His response caught me off guard - that is, if I heard him right...

"Dancing with you," He said.
I leaned up and put my ear closer to catch his words amidst the loud breeze -
"What did you say your favorite part was, Tbari?"
With his head still pressed against the seat he leaned his ear a bit to the left,
and said once more:
"Dancing with you."
Whoa.
The time spent in the last 3 1/2 years with the children that God has placed in my care - this was the first moment that I truly understood what it must feel like to be a parent.
To have a child completely melt you.

Maybe it was because as these words slipped so easily from Tbari's mouth,
I pictured his day in my brain and thought -
"there's no way that could have been his favorite part..."
How about all the hours spent on that fun scooter?
Hanging with his buddies playing outside?
Helping blow up all the balloons for the party?
The game of battleship?
The BOUNCY HOUSE?!
And yet; he didn't think twice.
His result was solid, and if he had been sitting in that oh so famous game chair, I am certain that would have been his final answer.
Maybe I doubted so much because I can be just as insecure as a 12 year old boy, who is much smaller than his peers.

"Tbari!" I yelled over the music.
"Dance with me!"
And as presumed, he put his little hands over his face in embarrassment..
"No, Miss Mia!" He giggled."I don't know how."
"Oh, Tbari."
I walked up to him and said,"You're one of the best dancers I know."
And it was true, he was. But this wasn't exactly the duggy; this was a bit slower.

So I took his hands and put them in mine, and we began to sway.
His shyness was something precious, and we danced.

The song ended, and off he went again with his friends,
bouncing like monkeys in the big bouncy house.
I didn't think the dance would again cross his mind,
(maybe only to recollect his embarressment ...)

But, to my surprise here we were.

I write this post for more reasons than 1, or even a couple;
but there are two I want to express most fully.
I can't help but to believe that this is God's heart for his children. He longs for nothing more than for us to find our full joy, our f a v o r i t e moments, content in His arms.
Not for the house he has provided us
or the food
or the friends
or the fun stuff we get to play with,
but just to be with him.
How wonderful if we embraced this reality.

The second point I make is this:
Show love to the children in your life, and around you.
They are so full of life, and you don't want to miss out.

If you struggle to do this, or maybe you don't find yourself surrounded much by a younger generation-
then pray for them..
and really pray.

The littlest moments go the longest way in a child's heart and mind.
And after all, we were all in that same place long ago.
I know we can all come up with many moments in our lives in which we longed for someone older to care to know us just a bit deeper.
As Jesus seeks us in this way,
let us follow him.
____________._____________

"And unless you change and become like little children,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."
(Matthew 18:3,4)