Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hugs

I always call myself an “accidental children’s minister,” but today I was reminded that God is in the middle of a lot of happy accidents. I had never planned on being a children’s minister and a lot of days, I feel like I’m only slugging along and someone else could probably do a lot better job than myself. But I love kids and I love Jesus, so its pretty fun when I get to tell kids about Jesus’ love for them. But its even better when I get to show it.

There are two little girls who come regularly with their grandma. The girls are so sweet, but to be honest, I haven’t spent tons of time getting to know them. When they walked in today, they both ran up to me and gave me huge hugs, which was a delightful surprise. A few minutes later, I sat down at the color station to color with one of the girls before we got started. I was asking about Grandma and if they lived with Grandma. She said, “yes, my mom died.” I told her how sorry I was (this girl is six years old) and she offered that her mom had taken too much medicine and died. I don’t know the story at all but its obvious what it looks like and my heart broke for this little girl. I told her I was sorry and gave her a big hug. I think she needed a mom today and I was able to give her a sliver of what a mom would give.

Another girl is one of my favorites (I know, not supposed to have favorites) and we always have good talks. Grandma (different Grandma) takes her to church, too, because her mom is sick. Mom is basically paralyzed from the neck down and in a wheelchair. We pray each week that God will heal her mom. But in the meantime, I get to give the hugs that Mom will one day give when she is well, whether that is on this side of heaven or not. I always make sure to give an extra squeeze when I hug this little princess, one for me and a secret one for her mama.

I think it was Maya Angelou who said something along the lines of, “people will forget what you say, they will forget what you do, but they will not forget how you made them feel.” I hope I made these little girls feel loved and cherished. I cannot think of anything better I could have done with my morning.

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