Oh, To Have the Heart of a Child

This is my friend, Megan. This eight-year old makes me laugh out loud and warms my heart.

Her mom sent me this picture with her cell phone yesterday. Megan was sitting by the street in front of her house hoping to make money by playing her guitar. She didn't ask her mom for permission. Mom just happened to look out her window and saw her sitting there. Megan has a major crush on my 20-yr old son who plays guitar. Dylan even played his guitar on Broad Ripple in Indy last summer and made $75. I don't think Megan knew he did that.

When Megan was two, she ran away from her mom and into the bathroom. She pulled out a drawer in the cabinet so mom couldn't open the door. When she was three, she would stand on the coffee table and talk about God. When her mom asked her what she was doing, she said she was "being Pastor Jim." When she was four, she would wake her mother in the middle of the night and ask her mother if it was Sunday. If mom said yes, she would say, "Then I will see Dylan?" However, whenever Dylan would try to talk with her at church, she would run away and hide. Her face still gets red and she gets flustered if he gives her attention.

One day, Megan was with her mom when they stopped by the house. Megan was sitting in the driver's seat talking to Jim while he hit a few golf balls into the cornfield across the road. Jim said, "Hey, Megan. Look at that deer near the trees." Immediately, Megan responded with, "Pastor Jim! Go get a gun and shoot it so we can have it for dinner!" Well, it actually sounded like this---"Pawstoor Jim, git and dinnoor." This is the same kid who called her grandpa one day because she felt like eating squirrel and she wanted to know if he still had some in his freezer. What a hillbilly.

Megan's dad is a county deputy sheriff. He drove by last night while we were watching the fireworks in my front yard and stopped to check on us. He was frustrated by rude people and was venting a bit. I didn't realize that Megan was paying attention until she said, "You just be the nice person, Dad. Just be happy and be nice so they can learn the way to be. Just be nice, Dad." How in the world did she get so smart? Her mom isn't that nice. :) LOL.

Scripture says (Matt 18:3-4)

...unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven...

The footnotes of the Life Application Study Bible explain it this way:

Jesus used a child to help his self-centered disciples get the point. We are not to be childish (like the disciples arguing over petty issues), but rather childlike, with humble and sincere hearts.

I think I need to be more like Megan, with a sincere and innocent heart. We probably all should be. I love you, Megan.

jdm