Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,the fruit of the womb a reward. (Psalm 127:3)
The first thing I saw on my news feed this morning was a story about a man who left his baby in the car for 16 hours – while he went off to the local bar and got drunk. When he woke, he couldn’t remember where he had parked the car, much less that he had left his child inside. These kinds of news stories are no longer rare or unfortunately, surprising. The news is full of stories of parents who abuse or abandon their children … or attempt to sell them online.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.
A few minutes after seeing that headline, I left for the store to buy some dog food for my very hungry dog. As I was walking by the toy aisle, I noticed a mom with her children. She was carrying a small child in a carrier and a toddler was sitting in front of the cart holding some kind of Nerf® toy.
“Can I throw this, Mommy?” he asked.
“No,” she answered firmly, but with gentleness. “Not in the store, but you can throw it all you want when you get home.”
He nodded and watched an elderly lady who was in a wheelchair-type cart come toward them.
“What’s that?” he asked.
No shushing. No scolding. The mom simply answered. “Her legs are too tired to walk, so she gets to ride in her wheelchair, just like you are riding in the cart. Isn’t that fun?” They both gave the elderly lady big smiles and she smiled back and stopped to chat with the toddler.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.
Later I saw the small family again. This time in the food aisle. The toddler wanted some yogurt.
“Yes, we can get some yogurt,” the mom said. “You can have it for lunch. What kind do you want?”
In typical toddler mode, he couldn’t figure out which one he wanted and began to get agitated.
Again, mom’s voice was gentle, but firm. “You need to relax. I will read you the flavors one more time. You tell me which one you want. If you can’t make up your mind, then we’ll get any yogurt. That’s your choice. Remember, you need to relax.”
He immediately settled down and the next time I passed them, they were laughing about something the boy had seen on a shelf.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.
I don’t know anything about this mom, but I do know she is a good mom. I can tell she enjoys being with her kids and has trained them well. Her gentleness and the way she conversed with her child was a delight to see.
This made me think. As Christian parents (and grandparents), we can reflect God’s love to others simply by the way we interact with our children. Yes, all children have meltdowns; that’s ok. And all kids have bad days. Even we have meltdowns at times, and we also have bad days. In addition, some kids have behavioral issues that are a result of some physical limitation that has nothing to do with disobedience or a rebellious attitude. Let’s be patient with those parents and help if we can (that’s also being a witness). All I’m saying is this: in a society where children are seen to be inconveniences, too much work, and annoyances, let’s find joy in spending time with our kids.
Hmmm … next time you go to the store, consider yourself on a missions trip to share God’s love … in the way you react to your children. You never know who’s watching. (I wasn’t spying on this mom this morning. She just showed up in the same aisles I did.)
Treat your children as gifts from God … because that’s exactly who they are.
And go on a midday missions trip and silently share God’s love with others as you treat your kids as the heritage they are. Make that trip to the grocery store more than a quick stop to grab some milk.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.
