My life has been getting very busy over the last few days. Lots of preparations for the English for Kids camps are filling up my email account, things that should have been done a few weeks ago need to get done now, organizing applications, answering questions, seeking answers, it all seems to be happening at once. My family is coming for a visit soon and I need to prepare for their stay, but that means getting a lot of things for the camps done before their visit. Life is just seeming very stressful at the moment. But I realized it isn't, at least it shouldn't be.
Almost every week I babysit one of the kids from the church so that his mother can learn how to drive. The father of the house is teaching his wife how to drive a stick-shift, and have asked me to watch their three year old son while they take an hour to practice her driving skills. The unique thing about this is that the child doesn't speak any English or French. They speak Russian in the home, and that is the language he speaks and understands. He is starting to learn some things in French, but he still mainly talks in Russian. So he sometimes doesn't understand me, but I definitely don't understand him, especially when his parents aren't around to translate. He is a talker and he likes to talk. And of course he talks in Russian, of which I know nothing except "good-bye."
Sometimes I am able to actively play with him, chasing balloons and toys and cars around the room, and other times I have tried reading to him in French. But today he was pretty content to play by himself and let me observe him. Even though I could not understand what he was narrating, I was still able to watch as his toys scaled mountains and ravines, built boats and bridges, created races and accidents and saved each other. I couldn't understand his words, but I could somewhat follow him and see his imagination take him anywhere.
Just watching him gave me time to think. I slowly forgot about the hassles that have been going through my head, and my stress levels went down as I quietly watched him play. His imaginations, his beliefs that these things in his head are happening made me think. What happened to our imagination? What happened to our faith? Children have such a strong faith in things and in people. When they believe something, they believe it. Even if you try to prove them wrong, like persuading them that unicorns and that Santa Claus doesn't exist, they will fight you so hard against what you say. They will very often believe something with no questions asked, they usually don't need proof to say it really exists or not. Yes their arguments can be faulty or weak, but their faith in that fact is so large that it will take a lot to persuade them otherwise.
Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." Luke 18:16,17
"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3
I believe that our faith in God and his salvation has to be like that of a child. But I think we forget that our faith in God for other things need to be like that of a child as well. Does a child worry about what he will eat later that day, or even tomorrow? Does a child worry that he/she has too much stuff to do in one day? Is a child worried about where he/she will be in their life in the next month, year, five years? The answer to that is no, but we as adults do worry and stress ourselves over these things. But if we put our childlike trust and faith in God during these times of stress and worry, we will be reminded that He is in control and that He will take care of us.
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, not about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more that food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seed after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:25-34
(I added my own stress to certain aspects of this scripture passage.)
This is a lesson that I am in continual need to be reminded of. God is taking care of me and I do not need to worry about it. I may have a lot to do and "a lot on my plate," but if I bring my childlike faith to God, I know He will bring me through it. When we bring our stresses to God, he takes them away. We do not need to worry because we have an all-powerful, all-mighty, and all-loving God watching over us.
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
" In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?" Psalm 56:4
I hope you all have a good and stress-free weekend.
In Christ,
Jennifer
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