{"id":196,"date":"2012-04-05T22:12:40","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T22:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=196"},"modified":"2012-04-05T22:12:40","modified_gmt":"2012-04-05T22:12:40","slug":"easter-countdown-4-a-childlike-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=196","title":{"rendered":"Easter Countdown #4 – A childlike faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a child, or you will never enter it.<\/em> Luke 18:17 NCV<\/p>\n

In the past week, I have had basically the same conversation with two very different individuals.\u00a0 One was a sweet 12-year-old girl that I know, and the other was my equally as sweet 82-year-old grandmother, affectionately known as Nanny.\u00a0 The conversation was about Easter traditions and favorite activities.\u00a0 What struck me was the fact that both shared the exact same heart.<\/p>\n

When I asked my 6th<\/sup> grade friend what her favorite part of Easter was, she proclaimed enthusiastically, \u201cThe egg hunt!\u201d.\u00a0 She then went on to elaborate that she loves to wake up with wide-eyed wonder to find baskets and get ready for church.\u00a0 She shared with me that she was dismayed that many of her friends and classmates didn\u2019t share her passion for simply enjoying the moment.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t understand why everyone was in a hurry to grow up so fast, and in her words \u201cbe too cool for Easter\u201d.\u00a0 Her words really touched me, because 30 years ago, I would have been that little girl.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fast forward a couple days to when I phoned my Nanny, she asked what we were doing this week.\u00a0 I replied that we were preparing for Easter.\u00a0 We reminisced about the last Easter we spent together and dyeing eggs with my kids.\u00a0 (The one thing she failed to mention is her passion for eggs means there better be enough for her\u00a0to dye as many as everybody else.)\u00a0 We laughed about all the fun memories we had with egg-dyeing over the years.\u00a0 Within seconds, she announced, \u201cEven though, I\u2019m goin\u2019 be by myself this year, I\u2019m goin\u2019 to the store and get me a dozen eggs.\u00a0 And yes sir, I am goin\u2019 dye each one of them \u2013 even if\u00a0I throw \u2018em out later.\u201d\u00a0 I just had to smile, because 40 years from now, I want to be that girl.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 This Southern\u00a0lady who is comfortable and confident in who she is that she doesn\u2019t mind doing something that her peers think childish or a waste of time \u2013 seeing as she has no one to share the joy with her this year.<\/p>\n

Today, the Easter season is that transportable moment for me.\u00a0 I wake up dreaming of walking to that tomb only to discover my Jesus isn’t there.\u00a0 He conquered death and proved gloriously that he was and is and is to come, exactly who He said he was.\u00a0 The rebirth of Spring only adds to my excitement as I daily count how many tulips have popped open, which area of grass is prospering, what garden plants are returning, and which trees are budding.\u00a0 I am carried by my imagination to Easters past of white patent leather shoes, little white gloves and Easter bonnets, every time this season comes to call.\u00a0 Oh and the hymns, I get almost giddy thinking about singing, “Because He lives”.\u00a0 I love it!<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t it be amazing if we looked at each new day and\u00a0each new experience through the eyes of\u00a0my two incredibly amazing friends?\u00a0 I believe that is exactly what we are asked to do in both Mark and Luke.\u00a0 We need to be able to lose our jaded-ness and grown-up tendencies, and submit to the childlike wonder and awe that each creation and each situation was given to us by God.\u00a0 Childlike faith lets us not be too big for ourselves and our ideas \u2013 like my little friend who wanted to enjoy Easter.\u00a0 Childlike faith lets you act with abandon on occasion to do something that brings you joy – just like my Nanny.\u00a0 Childlike faith lets you realize that God the father, who loves you very much, delights in seeing you happy.<\/p>\n

Take-away:<\/strong>\u00a0 What is something that you can do –\u00a0just for you –\u00a0in the next couple days that would bring you to childlike joy?\u00a0 As much as I love Easter, I have a few other things that I love that bring me right back to childhood no matter where I am.\u00a0 Even if you can\u2019t act on childlike joy immediately, make a list of those things.\u00a0 Here are a few of mine: running through the sprinklers, lying on the grass watching the stars, drinking from the garden hose, blowing bubbles, collecting clams on the beach, digging in soil to plant anything,\u00a0 listening for the ice cream truck, and my all time favorite – catching lightning bugs in jars.\u00a0 If you are bold (or should I say childlike enough), please post a couple of yours \u2013 I would love to know what brings you joy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a child, or you will never enter it. Luke 18:17 NCV In the past week, I have had basically the same conversation with two very different individuals.\u00a0 One was a sweet 12-year-old girl that I know, and the other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[99,172,328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}