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By
Jessica Roberts
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It's
the end of a long day of caring for sick children. No, not
my own. They belong to a missionary couple whose job often
calls them away to tend to others' needs at the sacrifice
of some of their time together as a family. I am the children's
teacher, and I usually enjoy being a substitute parent, but
not this week.
"I'm feeling overtired,
run down, and stressed," I grumble. "I'm way behind
on the dishes and laundry, and I'm missing a beach trip with
my friends to instead take care of a bunch of coughing, sniffling,
whiny kids. The kids are having their midday nap, and my day
still stretches before me."
I stare despondently at the
mountain of unwashed dishes. "I haven't had enough sleep
or fresh air for days now. I'm not meant do this. I'm not
their mother. Mothers have the patience, the selflessness,
the unconditional love for their children to put up with all
this! Not me. I'm not even part of their family, and these
kids are driving me crazy!"
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A
creak on the stairs tells me somebody's awake. It's two-year-old
Susy. "What do you need, Susana?"
She pauses for half a second,
then runs to me, throws her little arms around my neck, and
whispers, "I love you!" Then she turns and runs back
to bed.
I hear four-year-old Martin stirring,
so I go to check on him. He opens one eye and mumbles sleepily,
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"You're
the bestest teacher ever!" Something about the way he
smiles when he says that…
I think about their pure-hearted
love and how they've adopted me. I remember all the laughs,
the hugs, the discoveries we've shared.
Suddenly the mountain of dishes
is no longer impossible. I'm not so tired anymore. I remember
what Jesus said about loving the little people, "Inasmuch
as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you
did it to Me" (Matthew 25:40).
Tomorrow we're going to have
our best day yet! I'll make pancakes for breakfast. I'm sure
there is a way to build a three-ring circus in the sick room.
And when they reach that tired, grumpy hour before dinner,
I'll just shoot up a prayer and ask for some of the Lord's
unconditional love. And I'll thank God for the blessing of
having these kids to care for.
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Children
Are a Mission Field in Themselves
By
David Brandt Berg
What
so many people fail to realize is that the world of tomorrow
is what the adults of
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today
make it, according to what they choose to
give or not give the next generation.
"Let
the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them,"
Jesus said, "for of such is the kingdom of Heaven"
(Matthew 19:14). Children are the most sincere people in the
world. They're at the age where they're beginning to think
seriously about life, and they sincerely want to know and
follow the truth. They're at an age of malleability, an age
of reaching out, an age of choice, an age of decision. It
takes time and patience and understanding and lots of real
love to reach them, but this age is actually when most people
accept Jesus as their Savior.
"Train
up a child in the way he should go," the Bible says,
"and when he is old he will not depart from it"
(Proverbs 22:6). We need to educate them and inspire them
and encourage them, and most of all we need to point them
to Jesus and build their faith in God's Word.
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